As Cold As Summer
by CrazyAcorn
Summary: Named Best MvA Story Susan/DrC/OC How would you feel if you were a rotting corpse and had been in love with your best friend for eight years, only having to pair him with the sweetest, prettiest girl in existence? This, sadly, is Zomberella's life story.
1. It Started With a Bang

**CrazyA: **Everyone, I'd like you to meet Doctor Cockraoch: my fourth male obsession.

**Jack O'Lantern, Zim and the Joker: **Hi.

**Dr.C: **The pleasure's mine.

**CrazyA: **OH MY GOD YOU'RE BRITISH!!!

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**1. Started With a Bang**  
_**And I know, I know it's not your time. But bye, bye. And a word to the wise when the fire dies. You think it's over but it's just begun, baby don't cry...' **– Little Piece of Heaven, _Avenged Sevenfold

Sunny skies, not a cloud in sight, and the little town of Nocturne being a happy part of the USA. Typical day, typical people. Smoke blowing from the tops of the nuclear plant, mothers talking with their friends. It was the new millennium, the year 2000, and since the end of the world didn't happen (not yet anyway) everyone was ready for things to get great.

For Wendy, the day was just starting.

At 10:45 a.m. in her bedroom.

More specifically, under the warm covers that she had spent nearly every morning for the past seven years.

But this isn't the start of the story, that's coming later. This is more of an introduction, just so that you can see how ordinary and simple her life was before everything happened.

So back to Wendy.

Her full name was Wendy Ebony Summers, and was often the start of a Buffy conversation. She wished she was more like the Miss Summers of TV, confident and gorgeous while kicking the butt of serious evil. But no, she was stuck with her mouse-brown hair and a worthless job.

And this morning, the twenty-three year-old was going to die.

She woke up groggily and looked over to the neon red letters on her clock, her pupils went tiny. "Late! I'm always, _always _late!!" She raced to her closet, tearing off her clothes along the way as she pulled some clean office-worker ones on. After brushing both her hair and her teeth, she fixed on some lip-gloss and deodorant and bolted out the door. She didn't bother with breakfast, they had a coffee machine at the plant.

She raced to the driveway and fumbled with her keys, muttering as many swear words to herself as she could. "C'mon, c'mon..." she whispered impatiently. She finally got the tiny blue car open and hopped inside, not bothering to put on a seatbelt in her rush. Just as she started up the car, her mobile phone rang. She swore and picked it up, answering with a very tired 'hello.'

"Hey, Wendy!" a familiar but irritating voice said. "I tried calling you earlier but I could only leave a message-"

"Jake! For Pete's sake hang up!" Wendy screamed into the phone. "I'm not going out with you and I'm going to be late for work!!"

"Wendy, you're already late, a little bit of a conversation wouldn't hurt..." Jake said. Jake was the boy down the street who had a crush on Wendy, but it was really more of an obsession. Once she caught him rooting through her garbage. Slimy little pest... he had greasy hair and bright eyes that glowed with something Wendy could never trust.

"Shut up!" Wendy hung up sharply and pressed her foot on the accelerator, the engine roaring as she sped down the street ad fast as she could. Nocturne's streets were practically empty anyway, so no one tooted their horn as she broke several laws at once.

Wendy parked her car and ran as fast as she could to the information desk, still buttoning on her badge. The receptionist gave her a worried look before grabbing Wendy by the sleeve.

"You're late again..."

"I know, I know."

"That's the fifth time."

"I know."

"Don't make me report you to Mr Collins."

"You said that the last five times, now let me go get the kids!" Wendy shook her off and ran through the sliding doors, fixing her hair along the way as she tried not to trip in her high-heels. She hated high-heels; she didn't see the point of them. But in the plant, women had to wear respectable outfits to keep up the company image unless working inside the construction areas.

The group of children were causing a ruckus in the reception while the teacher, which was looking extremely ticked, strutted up to Wendy in her own kitten-clickers and looked her furiously in the eye behind thin glasses.

"You were meant to be here exactly half an hour ago!" she hissed, smoke coming from her ears. The class kept screaming and running around behind them, not caring what time the forgetful guide had gotten here, they still had to leave by 12:00 and didn't care about how they spent there time here. "Do you want me to report you to your boss? Because I, young lady, will do so!!"

"I'm _really _sorry! There was a Buffy marathon last night and my car wouldn't open and my friend-"

"I don't care about your stupid program _or _your love-life! Just show these kids around the damn factory!" she screeched. She turned and strutted off outside, lighting up a cigarette with some other teachers. Gosh, the education standards at public schools...

"Excuse me, everyone?" Wendy called out, waving her hand for attention. "Hello?" The class continued their noise, some even getting louder just to block her voice out. Wendy sighed and pressed her fingers to her lips, sending out a high-pitched whistle to everyone. They turned around at last and Wendy cleared her throat.

"Hey there and welcome to Nocturne's Amanita Nuclear Plant, otherwise known as NANP. My name's Wendy and I'm going to give you a little bit of a history lesson today." The class gave her a blank look of disinterest, causing Wendy to sigh and give a similar expression back. "Alright, I'll be honest here... school is a snooze... so why don't I just show you around the really cool part of the factory and treat you all to something at the soda machine afterwards?"

The class erupted into cheering and followed her like mice as she made her way into the plant. She pulled out plastic box from an 'equipment cupboard' and handed out goggles... just to make them feel more important.

"So why are you guys here today?" Wendy asked, putting on her own goggles. There was silence until one girl, the 'nerd' of the herd, raised a hand. The other was kept at her side, clutching a tiny plastic dinosaur

"To learn more about the history of Nocturne?" she answered.

"Exactly right!" Wendy beamed. "And about the history of NANP."

"NANP's a gay name!" a boy called out. Wendy turned around and raised an eyebrow, bending over until she was looking directly into the boy's eyes. Her piercing blue orbs stung his green ones, and he even backed away a little bit.

"I bet your mother loves you..." she whispered, almost as a threat. She stood up straight again and kept walking, the class still following behind her. "So, what do you guys know about this place already?"

The same girl raised her hand, more confident this time, and Wendy let her answer. "Nocturne was founded in 1902, but with no source for electricity they decided on nuclear power instead."

Even Wendy didn't know about that, but she nodded and gave the girl a smile. "Anything else?" The girl raised her hand for the third time, while others just stared blankly at her. "From _someone _else..."

No volunteers.

Wendy sighed and looked at her watch. "We've got an hour left... what if I show you guys just _one _room and then we'll get soda?"

Everyone's faces perked up.

"But only if someone besides... sorry, what was your name?" Wendy asked, looking at the small blonde with squinted eyes.

"Gabby," she answered simply. "Gabby Winters."

"What a random happenstance! _My_ last name is Summers!" Wendy said. She loved little things like that, it just made the world more interesting. The kids stared at her, blinking a few times and wondering why she just broke into that random spurt. "So if someone that isn't Gabby can answer a question, then I'll only show you one room."

Everyone raised a hand.

Wendy was by far one of the coolest tour-guides at NANP, which was the only reason why she still had her job after the several times of turning up late. Kids liked her, and she had a bright personality. Sure, she hated her job, but she was pretty darn good at it.

"NANP's main system core is the Mushroom Field," another child commented. Wendy smiled and put her badge to an identity pad, which scanned and gave a confirmed beep. She opened the door up wide and let the class walk inside quickly and excitedly. The room inside was like a box at a play, it had a grand view of everything beneath and beyond the glass protective glass window. There was a small set of stairs that led from the box to the futuristic-looking scene below.

The Mushroom Field.

It was a giant glowing green tank, with bubbling nuclear energy inside. People dressed in lab-coats were holding onto the controls and keeping it stable, but when their coffee break came the room would be deserted.

"One of the most important parts of this plant is the Mushroom Field..." Wendy said dramatically. "It's the place where every piece of electronics in Nocturne obtains their power and the very heart of the Amanita Nuclear Plant."

The previous kid, the one with the nasty comment, interrupted her train of thought again by asking: "Has it ever blown up?"

"You mean a meltdown?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah!"

"No, and it probably never will."

"Has anyone accidentally been mutated from the radiation?"

"That's impossible, the radiation doesn't seep through the glass. And whoever has to go inspect the raw energy of the tank is always wearing protective gear."

"But what if they weren't?"

"Anyone walking into the tank without protection is a moron," Wendy said, shutting up the kid at last. But not because of what she said, it was because of a beeping noise coming from the watch on her wrist. 11:45. Time for soda.

"Who's ready to get going to the canteen?" Wendy asked. A cheer exploded from everyone as they pushed their way back out the door. Wendy laughed and was about to walk out with them when she noticed something.

The door to the Mushroom Field was open.

Wendy slowly approached the stairs, the glass door wedged open with a lonely sneaker. In its place, she left her high-heels and quickly walked barefoot down the metal case with the sneaker in hand. All the workers and supervisors had left for coffee, so no one was guarding the area. Except for one small little girl with light curls of hair: Gabby.

"Hey, you've gotta get moving kiddo!" Wendy said, trying to remain clam. She was _so _dead.

In more ways than one, actually.

"I-I just wanted a closer look!" Gabby cried, tears in her eyes.

"Well we gotta go before someone catches us!"

"But my dinosaur is somewhere down here!" Gabby cried. Wendy grabbed her hand and quickly dragged her back up the stairs, trying not to get herself fired. As soon as she reached the top of the stairs and put Gabby behind the glass, she shoved the pair of sneakers into the little girl's hands. "My dinosaur!"

Wendy sighed and ran back down the stairs, the glass door closing behind her and her high-heels with Gabby. She raced over to the control panels and looked around for the little red thing.

_It's only two dollars at the local toy-store, by another one for Pete's sake! _Wendy thought to herself. After several minutes of searching, she spotted a stubby red tail poking from behind a blinking panel of buttons and dials. "Gotcha!" she exclaimed.

But just as she leant over the panel, which was _not _the smartest thing to do, she slowly turned a dial from '30% POWER' into an incredibly dangerous and stupid '99.99999%'.

At once, the green tank started glowing brighter. Wendy saw this at once, backing away slowly from the tank. She raced back up the stairs on speedy legs, shoved the dinosaur atop of Gabby's shoes, pushed the child outside the room entirely and went back downstairs. She grabbed a microphone, which was linked to the intercom system in case of something like this, and pressed a button down until her voice was heard through every speaker in the plant.

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE MUST LEAVE THE PLANT NOW!" she screamed. "I REPEAT, EVERYONE MUST LEAVE THE PLANT _RIGHT NOW_!"

Another voice buzzed through the intercom, one that Wendy recognised as her boss Mr. Collins. "Miss Summers, what is the matter? Why are you calling from the Mushroom Field?"

"MR COLLINS! THE TANK IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!" she screeched into the microphone. At first, Mr Collins thought she was joking, but then the sudden reality hit him as he heard her sob and continue screaming into the system. "PLEASE! JUST GET OUT!"

"EVERYONE EVACUATE THE PLANT **IMMEDIATELY**!!" he yelled over the top of her own voice. "I'm switching on the lock-down, Wendy! Get out of that room _now_!"

The class of school-children were being hustled out of the factory by teachers, Gabby clutching her precious dinosaur to her chest. All the workers that were once waiting in line behind the coffee machine were racing to their cars and driving the hell away from the plant, some even planning to pick up their families from home and leave the entire town.

But Wendy, exhausted from the running, was slower than them.

She panted as she ran up the metal stairs, watching and groaning as the metal door slowly started to close. Just one more step and she could make it...

"NO!" she screamed as the door brushed her fingertips, closing and locking tightly. "NO! This can't be happening!!" She scratched at the doorhandle with her fingernails, tears dripping slowly down her face in fat sobs of terror. She slammed her fist on the door, sobbing heavily with her face pressed against the glass.

"Wendy?!? Are you out of there?!? Please, give a response! Respond!" Mr Collins for once wasn't ordering, he was begging. Wendy wiped her ski-slope nose on her sleeve and slowly walked down the stairs again. She picked up the microphone and swallowed back tears.

"I-I'm here, sir."

There was silence as Mr. Collins inspected where the source was. _Mushroom Field. _He sighed and turned back to the microphone. "Wendy... I can't undo a lockdown. I'm sorry."

Wendy sobbed and fell to the floor, her throat raw from her screams. "I-I know you are... it was my own fault anyway... I was too slow... I knew I shouldn't have cut those gym classes..." She looked up at the glowing green tank, her blue eyes going pink from her tears. "So is there anything I can do to make it easier for me?"

"It's going to be over in a blink, Wendy..." Mr Collins said as he tried to be comforting. "It'll be okay... you've got a good seat in the clouds waiting for you."

"Thanks, sir." It didn't answer her question, but it did help her a little bit. "Now get going, you've got a wife and daughter to take care of."

Mr Collins wiped away tears behind his glasses. He had never really liked Wendy that much, he barely knew her, but if you had ever talked to a person and heard their very last words... then of course you'll understand why he was crying. "God bless you, Wendy."

With a crackle and fizz, the communication was cut.

Wendy put the microphone back in the proper stand, staring at the giant green tank. A crack in the glass was starting to form as the energy inside tried to push its way out. Wendy backed away slowly from it, but her stockinged feet slipped on the floor. She fell back down, a few metres or so away from it, and waited for the beginning of our story.

For the big bang.

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**CrazyA: **...now what do we do?

**DrC: **DDR?

**CrazyA: **..........................................................................................................................yes. REVIEW!!


	2. Corpse Kissin'

**CrazyA: **Hooray!! Second chapter!! Woot!

**DrC: **On behalf of Miss Jean and I, I'd like to thank the subscriptions and reviews that people made after reading only the first chapter!

**CrazyA: **I saw the movie last night (again) in 3D, and let me tell you, it rocked even harder than it did the first time!! I kept wincing every time our poor doctor got himself into a mess...

**DrC: **I appreciate the concern...

**CrazyA: **Also, my sister might be writing an MvA story as well! Awesome!! But just as long as she knows I have dibs on Doc, then I give full approval... Now about the story... READ AND REVIEW!!

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**2. Corpse-Kissin'  
**_**'She was never this good in bed even when she was sleeping. Now she's just so perfect, never been so fucking deep…**' - __Little Piece of Heaven, _Avenged Sevenfold

Funerals aren't meant to be pleasant. They're almost always a sad occasion, and nearly everyone ends up depressed. So her funeral wasn't an exception.

Wendy was dressed in a black dress edged with white lace, red lipstick on her pale ice-cold lips. In her hair was a single red rose, creating a look that was close to royalty. Her eyes were shut, and the holes where the radioactive pieces of tank had cut through her were covered up with makeup and stitches.

The morticians had a hard time dressing her up. There was a lot of blood on her when they found her.

"Wendy Summers was a caring, beautiful little girl..." Mr Summers said, looking down on his daughter's corpse. "No matter where she went, she was always a sweet girl... and she was always my little girl..."

"_Our _little girl," Mrs Summers interrupted. She was on the verge of breaking point, and couldn't look at the closed eyes. "Thankyou so much for coming today, we know that Wendy will always be loved."

Jake Nelson was sitting by himself at the back of the room, staring at Wendy's corpse with eager eyes. Even in death, she would always be a beauty. Curly brown hair, her bright blue eyes... it was a pity they were closed. As everyone started filing out of the reception, most of them with tears in their eyes, he walked up by himself to the brown wooden coffin. He leant over the top of the frame and gently kissed her lips, trying not to smudge her lipstick.

They tasted better than he ever imagined them to be.

He brushed his hand slowly down her cheek, his fingers tingling at the thought of touching any other part of her. And with that, he left.

*****

Three months later, Jake was still lying awake in his bed. Photos of Wendy, and pictures of girls he thought were Wendy, were surrounding him. The lock of her hair he once found now had a black ribbon tying the threads together, and he was holding it tightly in his palm. He wouldn't let her memory die.

The room was dimly lit, and his CD was playing old love-songs that he recognised as 'their songs'. A few candles were scattered around the place, to make it look more Gothic and mournful, and the blinds were drawn to a close. Jake wanted to drown in the darkness, for the light outside his house reminded him of her.

Wendy was so beautiful that day, the day of her funeral. He was desperate to be with her, he loved her so much. She visited him in his dreams, forever haunting and tempting him even after death. The way she died was brutal, a disaster, and the fact that she was the only one who died in the explosion made no sense for him. Why would God put such an angel on Earth, just to take her away again?

But what haunted him the most was their first, last, and only kiss. He didn't care about if she was dead, it was so hard not to go further. Her red lipstick was so perfect on hr skin, and the blush on her face only complimented her cheeks. In her eyes, Wendy always thought that she wasn't 'pretty'. But Jake always thought of her as a goddess. Her eyes were shut when she was trapped inside that box, but he always remembered those brilliant blue orbs of colour and life.

Wait, that was it.

She was trapped.

She was still alive.

He knew she was, he always knew. She couldn't die, of _course _she couldn't! Wendy was meant to be alive forever, so that she and Jake could grow old together! Of course. Why was he so blind? He had to help her, he had to save her.

But most of all, he had to have her.

He had to have her in his arms. He had to see those blue orbs shine again. He had to feel her heart beat beside his as they kissed with passion. He had to…

…he had to get a shovel.

*****

The night sky was so clear in Nocturne, you could count each star and name every constellation. The moon was bright and the colour of brie cheese, Wendy's favourite cheese, and the romantic white lighting flooded the streets. Jake walked in shadows, for what he was about to do required the subtlety of night and the mysterious ability of the shadows.

Time to free Wendy.

There was only one graveyard in Nocturne, and every ancestor of the tiny town was buried there. It was up on a hill (of course) and had a view of the entire town. It was rather beautiful, and if there wasn't a hundred corpses buried there then people would've picked it as the perfect spot for a house.

Wendy deserved a view like this one.

"It's okay, Wendy…" Jake whispered, slowly walking his way up the hill. "We'll be together soon…"

He was insane.

He pulled out a torch from his back pocket, turning it on and shedding extra light on the tombstones. He walked past each one, as silent as shadows, and looked for Wendy's. He had left without seeing her grave, and had no idea where to start. But soon, with tears in his eyes, he found a clean and polished marble slate in the ground.

_Wendy Ebony Summers_

_Taken away too soon, and yet still among us today._

_We love her so._

Jake sighed, knowing that the stone had so much more to say. It didn't mention her beauty, her compassion or her sacrifice. But they got one thing right: she was taken away too soon for her time.

And he was going to set it right.

He hit the shovel into the ground, dirt and lawn spewing from the greenery. His heart was beating only for her, and he knew that when Wendy rose from her coffin she would feel the same way for her saviour. He kept digging and digging, sweat dripping from his forehead. The earth was thick and firm, making it hard to break into. The repetitive movement and workout in his arm muscles was killing him, but the determination of getting his beloved back was stronger.

Dig after dig after dig.

Dirt flew over his shoulder, piling up behind him on the ground. Soon, he was neck-deep in the grave, the ground-level high above him as he slowly sunk lower and lower into the earth. And then…

…thunk.

He hit the coffin.

He threw the shovel over his shoulder, hearing it land on top of the grass. He crouched down and knocked on the wood, making sure he wasn't imagining this. The gentle sound of his knuckles on wood confirmed it. She was there.

"Don't worry, Wendy!!" he yelled, tears of joy coming to his eyes. "I'm right here! I can hear your heartbeat!!" Jake brushed off the remaining dirt, laughing and crying at the same time. He pulled open the coffin lid, smiling at what he found inside.

Wendy.

And she looked more attractive than ever.

The flower in her hair had died over the months, and the makeup had peeled away. Her scars showed and there were scabs and cuts from where the exploded shards of metal had cut her open. But what Jake didn't notice was that some of the scars were glowing…

Her eyes were still closed and her skin paler than ever before, even a slight shade of blue-green. Her overall appearance was fragile, like a broken puppet, and she was as cold as ice as she lay in her tomb. Jake slowly and carefully, using both hands, lifted the upper-half of her body from the case and looked at her closely.

"Wendy… my sweet, beautiful Wendy…" he whispered. He shared the second kiss with her, his warm lips against her cold ones. In his mind, he could feel the life behind them, but the sad truth was that she was just a body… never to breathe another gasp of air again.

She was still wearing her black and white dress, and Jake could feel a bra-strap underneath. Morticians went through a lot of work, didn't they? He carefully pulled her from the coffin, resting her body atop of his with her knees outside of his own. He placed a hand on her thigh to steady her, and he finally began what he wanted for so long…

His tongue collided with hers, making enough movement for both of them. He held a hand behind her head, pushing her skull towards him as if she was kissing him back.

Three words, readers: NO. EFFING. WAY.

His twisted mind heard a moan of pleasure from her lips as he trailed a row of saliva and lips down her neck. His sinful hands moved away the top half of her dress and started work on the bra-straps. He gently squeezed a breast, hearing another imaginary moan over the top of his own. As the clips of the bra fell loose, leaving her naked, bruised and sliced torso free to the night, a sudden hand slapped Jake's unsuspecting face.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING??!?!?!?!"

Impossible.

Improbable.

Unbelievable.

Unimaginable.

…amazing.

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**CrazyA: **Short chapter, I know. And it was really, REALLY dark at the end... but I swear, this is the last we'll see of Jake and this type of gross-ness. Wait, where did Doctor Cockroach go?

_*DrC hiding behind trash-bin in order to escape the madness*_

**CrazyA: **Oh well. READ AND REVIEW!!


	3. Dead Girl Runnin'

**CrazyA: **Oh. Em. Gee. I love the guys who have been reviewing and reading the story so far! Your comments always make me smile... ^^

**DrC: **Didn't we say something like this in the last chapter?

**CrazyA: **Who cares?!? It had to be said... Read and Review!!

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**3. Dead Girl Running  
**_**'Now an angry soul comes back from beyond the grave to repossess a body with which I've misbehaved.' -** __Little Piece of Heaven, _Avenged Sevenfold

"What the hell did you think you could get away with?!" Wendy's corpse screamed. Jake leapt back, none of his perverted dreams were like this: this was _real, _She really was alive. Sure, not looking like an image of health and fitness, but still she was there and talking (screaming, to be precise) directly to the frightened boy's face.

"Well?!" she continued, screaming at Jake. "What? What are you staring at?!?"

"How can you…?" Jake whispered, pointing a shaking finger at her. Those dreamy blue orbs he remembered were long gone, they were a dark creamy white with faint veins at the side. Her pupils had vanished, along with her irises, and her eyes looked like the moon floating above the fighting 'couple'.

Wendy did up her bra and pulled her dress back into place. She didn't notice the coldness of her skin or the scars on her body, not yet anyway. "So you just drugged me, dragged my unconscious body too a ditch, and decided to have sex with me?!? What the hell is your problem?!?"

"Wendy, wait!!" Jake yelled over the top of her. He reached out to her and grabbed a hold of her wrist. She pulled back, standing on her two feet and dragging herself back up to the ground level. She took one look at her surroundings and laughed, still seriously pissed off at the creep.

"Great, just _great_! You took me to a _graveyard_?!?" she spat in the grave, which she didn't understand as hers. "You psycho! HELP! POLICE!!!" She ran as fast as she could, the dead flower petals in her greasy brown hair falling behind her path. Jake climbed up after her and started chasing her, but fell behind her with the flowers.

She was fast, faster than a normal person should be, and the cuts on her sides glowed in a blur as she ran. Her blank milky eyes glowed with the rest of her tortured body, but she was too focused to notice the change.

"What did he do?" she asked herself. "I remember something… about an explosion… must be a side-affect of the drug." Pity that she pushed it aside so easily. She saw the lights of the station were still on, and through the blinds she could make out people drinking down coffee. She was safe now. Jake wouldn't _dare _get her here.

Wendy pushed open the door, a bell over her head starting to ring. It was warm inside, and the smell of coffee made her feel welcome. No one was at the reception, everyone was just sitting in their offices. So no one was there to scream at her… yet.

She slowly approached the desk, scared even though no one was at the seat behind it, and tapped a tiny gold bell on the counter. When no one answered her call, she pressed it again. No one. "Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone in here?" No reply. "Guess I gotta play hide and seek, then…"

The glow in her eyes faded away, as did the ones inside her scars, so when she approached the constable's office he had no need to be afraid of her. Oh yeah, besides the fact that a mouldy-green girl in a black dress with pure white eyes was coming after him to report sexual harassment by her obsessive neighbour. Apart from that, it would all go well.

She knocked a timid hand on the door and smiled when she heard the gentle reply of 'come in'. The man inside, Constable Ryan, thought that it was just the new boy with his coffee. So he didn't bother looking up from his Sudoku when Wendy came inside. "Just bring it here, Ben. Did you put in two equals?"

"Um…" Wendy blinked, obviously confused.

"Take it back then, moron. What are we paying you to do?"

"You don't pay me anything…"

"I will admit, coffee-boys don't get much… but that doesn't mean we don't pay you anything at all!" Wendy tried getting in her say, but he just continued on his own little rant. God, men could be frustrating… "My mother always said to appreciate what you've got in life, but obviously we don't share the same mother!"

Wendy snapped, her eye twitching in frustration. She walked over to Constable Ryan and slammed a fist down on the table, making the pencils on his desk jump and his attention now on her. "LOOK! I've just had to drag myself out of a graveyard and run through the streets of Nocturne in order to find you guys!! I always go to officers first in a situation like this, so would you be _so _kind as to _listen _to me and not go on about effing coffee!!"

Please read the previous speech from Wendy, and just imagine how bad that sounds when coming from a corpse that was meant to have died three months ago.

Constable Ryan stared at her, his mouth hanging open and his pupils tiny. And then, from the sudden stress of it all, he fell over backwards in his chair. Wendy just stared, her eyes wide in amazement. Had the whole town gone mad?

"Hey…um…" Wendy walked around the desk, bending over the top of the constable. She pushed his shoulder, hoping to stir him from what she hoped was a sleep. "I-I'm sorry for yelling… but I've had a really rough night and I wanted to press charges against-"

"HOLY CRUD!!" yelled someone from the doorway. "A ZOMBIE!!" It was Ben, the coffee-boy, and he was just arriving with the requested coffee for the constable. Wendy looked up sharply and turned around in all directions, wondering what he was talking about. Ben let out an ear-piercing scream and dropped the coffee, skidding on the spilt drink on his way to a phone. "GET THE FBI!!"

"Wait! What's going on?!" Wendy yelled, running after him. "What zombie?!" As she questioned, she skidded on the coffee and went flying straight through another door. That door led to a meeting room full of detectives and authorities, and each one was now staring at this strange new person among them. And this strange person had just, quite literally, lost her head.

Which was now rolling along the floor and landing in front of the head detective's feet.

The gentlemen in the room screamed in a high-pitched-teenage-girl fashion as Wendy looked up from the floor, not understanding that she had just been separated from the rest of her body. With her unstable balance, she rolled over onto the side of her head, watching the blue-dressed men scream and run in mad circles in an unusual perspective for her. The carpeted floor was where a wall should've been…

"Oh my God!!" Wendy screamed. She caught sight of her body now, which was attempting to stand up on it's own shaking legs. She recognised the black dress, it was one she had worn to her aunty's funeral when she was twenty, and her pair of black English-rose shoes with a pair of white stockings. That was _her _body… minus her head of course. At her neck, a piece of her broken spine showed through the flesh, which she recognised as where her head should usually be. Now, to get the body back over to her…

"C'mon, you can do this Wendy…" she muttered. She didn't think about anything, just naturally moved her legs. It was like if she was all in one piece, it was the same thing. She didn't have to think, she just acted. Her body, still shaking slightly, slowly walked over to her head and bent down. Wendy felt her own hands lift her up and click her skull back into place. All her bones reattached to each other, and she thanked her science teacher for giving out those after-school biology lessons. She did it.

"Someone get the army! The navy! The air-force for crying out loud! Just get someone down here!!!" Ben was screaming into a phone. Wendy gasped, they were scared of _her_. _She _was the zombie. If her heart was still beating, then it would be broken.

"I've gotta get out of here!" she screamed. She bolted out the door, into the wet and wild streets. The rain felt freezing on her already cold skin, and she felt like she would be crushed of the weight in every droplet…

…or maybe it was just her heavy conscious that was killing her.

She was a zombie? Seriously? She couldn't be anything cooler? She couldn't fly, breathe underwater, or even shoot out lasers? She had to be a slow, brain-munching, walk-perfecting, freak of the undead that always turned up in a cheesy b-grade horror film?

Apparently, yes.

Zombies weren't even mentioned on Buffy, they were that lame. It was either vampires, demons or some other awesome thing from hell and beyond. Besides, how could she be a zombie? Zombies aren't even real! They were just something from the movies and Scooby-Doo cartoons. So why, out of all the other corpses in Nocturne, in America, in the _world_, was Wendy destined to become something that didn't even exist?

Wendy bolted to her house, not noticing the fact that she was faster than normal, and jumped the front gate into her yard. She landed on two feet, but snapped her ankle in half. She fell over, landing on the pathway to her house, and swore. She dragged the top-half of her body off the ground and reached for her foot, clicking it back into place. Her blood had dried up, so she couldn't bleed all over the place, and if she could then she would've made herself sick. After finally getting onto her feet again, she ran inside the house and locked the door behind her.

"Why me, damn it?!?" she yelled, sliding down her door and crumbling in a heap of sobs. She hid her face in her hands and let loose a series of sobs. She could only come up with a few tears, the others had dried up in the dirt…where she belonged. Why was she like this? Why couldn't she just stay where she was? She would've been happier… she would be in heaven.

Had she gone to heaven? She couldn't remember clouds or angels… or anything else that the Bible made it out to be. She wasn't a bad person, so she couldn't imagine herself being in a pit of flames and fire. All she could remember was a green, glowing thing… and a thousand sharp knives slicing through her body like butter. Then there was just… darkness… and then… Jake's tongue on her neck. Ew. Never. Again.

But that didn't matter, she could think about what happened later. Right now, she had to leave. Nocturne, and possibly all of America, would be after her. She had to get her stuff packed and leave ASAP.

Wendy ran to her room and pulled off her dress, she didn't want to wear the stupid thing any longer. In her cupboard, she found a pair of old jeans and a stripy-sleeved shirt. The stripes made her look like something out of Beetlejuice, but they covered up the cuts on her arms. She kicked off her shoes and replaced them with red converse, feeling slightly comforted by the warmth of the material. After she found a bag big enough for this strange journey she was about to embark on, she tossed everything she loved and needed to keep herself sane. Photos of her family, a few-dozen CDs and player, her camera, her wallet, and other items that were necessary for survival. She dragged the bag over her shoulder and ran back out the house, only to be blinded by several search-lights.

"There it is, boys!" Someone called from a helicopter. "Take it down!" Before she could blink, a tranquiliser dart flew past Wendy's ear. She screamed, even though the dart missed her by a long-shot. "No, no, no! Give that 'ere! I'll do it myself!" Another dart went flying, only to miss Wendy by a mere centimetre.

"Quit it!!" she screamed.

"Don't get it mad, boys! I'll just come up and eat our brains!"

"How the hell can I possibly get up there?!?! You're in helicopters while I'm stuck on the ground!!"

"Oh yeah…" the person inside said to himself. "Get the net!!"

Suddenly, a net came from the sky and collapsed on top of Wendy. The thick rope crushed her to the ground, and she tried to struggle her way out of it. It didn't work. Now that she was still, she was an easy target for a tranquiliser dart. The person inside the chopper sent a third and final dart, which hit her in her neck and sent the girl off to sleep.

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**CrazyA: **OH YAY! This means that in the next chapter she'll meet up with the gang! Woot!

**DrC: **Hooray!

**CrazyA: **_*tackles DrC* _THANKYOU FOR BEING BRITISH!!! Read and review, guys!


	4. I Am Wendy, Hear Me Roar

**CrazyA: **HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO REEEAAADEEEERRRSSS!!!

**DrC: **Great to be back!

**CrazyA: **I'm so happy with how I did the guys in this one! But, if you reckon they're a bit OOC (out-of-character) then be honest and tell me before things get out of hand.

**DrC: **Who knows? You might read my lines and think I've gone too British.

**CrazyA: **NO-ONE can be too British. READ AND REVIEW!!!

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**4. I Am Wendy, Hear Me Roar  
**'_**No matter what they say, I'm still the same. Somehow everybody knows my name.' **__- Hey Baby, _No Doubt

Wendy's dreams were dark and confusing… and that was before she had died. It was easy for her to get lost inside an abyss of dark and painful thoughts, and when she was dreaming she usually couldn't find her way back out.

For some unknown reason, most of her nightmares were fairytale based. Wendy just blamed the cartoons she watched when she was a kid and all the stories her parents told her when tucking her into bed. So Wendy wasn't that surprised when she found herself in Red Riding-Hood.

It was all a bit of a blur to her, but she felt the soft cotton material around her shoulders and over her head and could hear something lurking in the dark. She didn't know what she looked like, since it was all from her eyes, but she felt like she did before the explosion. Normal, whole and just living life naturally.

The wind swept through the trees, shaking the green leaves and moving the blotches of sunlight that speckled her path. It was peaceful, and Wendy nearly forgot about the world she was still a part of. Everything was sweet and blissful… there was no pain here in her Eden.

But a sudden rustle in the bushes caused Wendy's attention to swerve.

She turned around sharply, eyes wide, and saw nothing. "Who's there?" she called fearfully. Another rustle behind her made her yelp as she spun and shouted into the bushes, "Leave me alone!!"

She walked down the path, trying to avoid whatever was trying to get her. Another rustle brought speed in her step, and soon she was sprinting down the grassy way. The trees bent over her as she ran, creating more and more shadow and darkness. The lower branches started blocking her path, tangling her up inside the branches.

"No!!" she screamed. "Get away from me!!"

The shadowy presence left her cold and shaking as it ran up to her. She could smell the heat in it's breath as it bent down in front of her, savage teeth dripping with drool. Tears ran down Wendy's neck as the beast lunged at her with a snarl and a roar…

"Get off me!!!" she yelled, sitting up and escaping the dream at last. Breathing for un-needed air, she nearly popped her eyes right out of her skull.

All Wendy could see was a dark, dark room. Whatever she was lying on, it was cold and solid. Nothing held any signs of a softness… it was all too harsh and bleak for her. She was freezing cold, and could barely make out her hand in front of her face. Did they have any lights in here? She slowly sat up, looking around her surroundings… nothing much at all… she spotted her bag over in the corner, the only familiar sight for her. She was still wearing clothes, and she couldn't feel any needles plugged to her skin… so she guessed that whoever had taken her wasn't doing experiments yet.

"W-Where am I?" she whispered. She got to her feet and looked around, her brick of a mattress popping back into the wall. As she searched the room for any signs of hope, which was damn hard to do in such darkness, she could hear something behind a wall. People! Oh thank Christ!! She ran over to the wall and pressed an ear to the cold metal, hearing quiet murmurs of people on the other side.

"So what do you guys think about her?" one person asked.

"_Her? _I thought the new guy was… a… non-non-dude…" Moron.

"Gentlemen, we haven't even met the young lady yet. We should not judge her just from what General Monger said about her," a British accent said. Wendy immediately liked him; he was obviously smarter than the other two combined. And this new person…General Monger, apparently…must have been the one who kidnapped her.

"Doc, you're just saying that because you're the one they picked to give her a check-up," the first person said. He sounded like a jock… "It isn't fair! I've been in here longer than you! _And _you're not even a real doctor!"

"Of course I'm a doctor!" exclaimed the outraged Britt. "Maybe not a _medical _doctor, but still… I have more knowledge about the human biology than you two put together."

"Well _I'm _a man of science! They should've given _me _the job!" said the moron from before.

"No, BOB… that's Doctor C."

Yep, a definite moron. And now Wendy knew three names: the pom was Doctor C (she guessed that the C stood for Charles), the moron was named BOB, and the General Monger was her kidnapper.

"Oh…" BOB said sadly. "So when do we meet the guy?"

"Monger said that she was coming at about three…"

"If Link's right, then we've got exactly three minutes and thirty-seven seconds."

And now there were four. Link, Charles, BOB and Monger. Was Wendy the only girl among them? And what would they make of her? Only Monger knew that she was zombie, and from the sounds of it he hadn't told this to the other three. Would they be scared? More than likely…everyone else was… but maybe they had seen plenty of people like her in the past and might be used to her appearance. They might be zombies themselves! Wendy tried to keep positive, but even before she became one of the undead she was never that good at meeting new people. Especially ones that sounded as smart, strong and stupid as these three sounded. She ran her fingers through her hair, tearing out a few strands by accident, and tied up her laces. Keep a good image and they might just classify you as normal.

And then the walls started moving in.

"HEY!!" Wendy screamed on the top of her lungs. "Stop it!!" The other three walls pushed her towards the one that she had been listening through, ignoring her screams and shrieks.

Meanwhile, Dr C, Link and BOB were calmly listening to the screams on the other side of the metal. Dr C inspected his watch and slowly brought his countdown to a close. "Five, four, three, two…" As soon as he said 'one' the doors opened and Wendy came screaming through. She landed on her back, giving a loud 'oof' at the sudden pain of the ground.

"Oww…" she whined, her eyes shut because of the sudden brightness of the room. She slowly sat up, covering her eyes with her hands. As she slowly and gradually got used to the light, she took her hands away and blinked. Turning around in a slow circle, she saw her bleak surroundings… not much different from her own cell.

"Oh…my…GOD!!' BOB screamed suddenly, sliming his way over to her. Before she could turn around, Wendy felt two cold blobs of slime on her chest, BOB's 'hands'. "What on Earth are these?!?"

Wendy let out a scream, pushing her way through the slime and turning around sharply to face the newest pervert in her life. A giant blue blob with a single red eye that smelt familiarly close to ham… the similar smell and damp slime now in two splotches on her chest.

"BOB!!" cried out who she recognised as the jock. "Don't grope the new girl's boobs!" Wendy let out another scream as a strange green fish-ape appeared in her view. He was built nearly entirely out of muscle and was by far taller than her. She didn't realise that the people she had heard were, in fact, these monsters before her.

"Where's Doctor C?!?" she yelled at the two of them. "Did you eat him?!? Oh help, you _did _didn't you?!?"

"No, I'm sure they wouldn't eat me…" came the British voice behind her. "BOB says that I'm too scrawny for his taste." Wendy turned around, her eyes widening at the sight of him. A tall cockroach that loomed over her, his golden-brown eyes peering at her curiously. And Wendy thought that _she _was strange-looking…

Wendy took a slow step backward, looking from one monster to the other. "Oh God… this can't be happening to me…"

"By the look on your face, I'm gonna guess that Monger hasn't told you about us…" Link said. He was used to the screams and completely unaffected by them now.

"Guys…" BOB whispered loudly, pointing at the stranger's curves. "What's a boob and why does he have two of them?" Wendy just stared, bug-eyed, and wondered how something so terrifying could be so stupid at the same time.

"Um… I think… I think the tranquilisers haven't worn off yet…" Wendy whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "That must be it… of course… I'm still asleep… this is all a major dream…"

Dr C watched as she slowly nodded her head, her whole body shaking as she tried to calm down. She held herself together, her knuckles white and about to burst through the pale blue-green skin. He slowly walked up to her, approaching with caution, and studied her face. Her striking eyes had deep, dark circles and shadows around them… and were actually quite pretty in a very Gothic fashion.

"Please, just wake up…" she was muttering. She gripped herself tighter and tighter, ignoring the pain she was causing herself. "You gotta get up early for work anyway…"

"Where did you work?" he asked, slowly pulling out a notebook from his lab coat pocket. Wendy looked up at him before looking back down again, unable to look him right in the eye.

"Um… the nuclear plant… in Nocturne…" she whispered. "NANP…"

"NANP is a pretty strange name for a flower, you know…" BOB commented, nodding his head in a knowledgeable fashion.

"Miss Summers-"

"Please, call me Wendy…" she interrupted the doctor. "Wait, how did you get my name?"

"Ask General Monger, he's the one who knows what's what around here," Link interrupted.

"Oh, and also ask him what we're getting for dinner tomorrow night. Cause if it's leftovers than I am so-" BOB started, only to receive a hand in front of his eye to signal for him to be quiet.

"Can I continue?" Dr C asked, slowly taking his hand away. "Wendy, were you involved in the meltdown of the plant three months ago?"

Wendy thought back, closing her eyes and breathing slowly. The green light… the big bang… "I-I think so…"

"And did you die in this experience?"

Wendy's eyes snapped open and went wider, and she looked up at him in shock. She never really took it in that in order to be a zombie you had to have died. She died… that's why she was at the graveyard. And the ditch she was in was her own grave… "Yeah, I died…"

"Woah! Hold up for a minute!" Link yelled, waving his arms dramatically. "You _died?! _And yet you're still here, talking to us and being groped by a giant blue slime-thing?!?"

"Apparently so…" the doctor muttered. "Wendy, do you mind if I see your arm for a minute?"

Wendy blinked, and at first wanted hit him over the head with a newspaper, but she slowly rolled up her right sleeve. At least five massive cuts were embedded into her skin, with thin scabs trying to heal over the top of them. But these scabs were dimly glowing with the faintest of light, noticed only by Dr C. He held her arm in his hands, taking a self-note about her cold flesh, and pulled on it roughly.

The entire arm came off.

"Okay…" BOB said, "I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen…"

Wendy just stared blankly at her shoulder, watching as the giant insect looked at the arm from every angle. Her long sleeve was loose and flowing in the air-conditioning like a lonely battle flag. "Is there anything else you want to pull off me, or is my arm just special?"

Dr C pressed two fingers against her palm, and smiled slightly when he felt no familiar beat. "Just as I thought… can you move your fingers for me, Miss Summers?"

"I told you, it's Wendy…" she said quietly. She did so anyway, waggling her fingers and even performing a Spock-Signal. "By the way, I'm guessing that the C doesn't stand for Charles…"

"Doctor Cockroach PhD…" he answered, handing the limb back over to her. "I'm guessing that you know the names of Link and BOB."

"I know, I heard through the door…" she said shyly. "Usually I don't eavesdrop but…"

"In a place like this, everyone can change from their usual habits… especially if that someone has gone through as much damage as you have…" Dr C said calmly.

"What damage?" BOB asked in a panicked tone. "Is Wendy gonna die?! She can't die! I love Wendy! We belong together!!"

"Okay…" Wendy said, moving a few inches away from BOB. "I don't know if I should be flattered or worried…"

"Relax, BOB. Miss Summers cannot die twice…" Dr C explained. "She only appears to be alive now, but in actual reality she's dead. The only reason why she's here is because the radiation from the explosion caused her mind to kick-start into work again."

Wendy locked her arm back into the socket, only having trouble with getting the thing the right way around. "So you're saying that I'm not technically alive?"

"Exactly right. The only difference is that your blood-stream has dried up and your heart refuses to tick."

Wendy slowly put a shaking hand on her chest, gasping at what she felt underneath the skin: nothing. Merely a cold, frozen heart forever dead inside her chest. She kept quiet, not really sure what to say… this was all so… unexpected. And not to mention weird. In just two days, her entire life had been completely flipped. From just normal Wendy Summers into terrifying zombie-girl… it was like her fairy godmother decided to screw around with her.

"So why did you end up with such bizarre names?" she asked curiously.

"The guys upstairs just decided to give us new names, you know, to make us sound cooler," Link answered. "I'm The Missing Link, BOB stands for Benzoate Ostyle-something... Bicarbonate and bug-eyes is Doctor Cockroach."

"But you had names before those ones, right?" Wendy asked, slowly getting used to these strange creatures.

"Yeah, mine was BOB Summers," said the oozing blue substance. Dr C gave himself a face-palm, groaning in disbelief.

"That's me…" Wendy said. "_My_ last name is Summers."

"No way!" BOB yelled, picking her up in his hands and shaking her in disbelief. "My last name is Summers, too!! This is so cool!"

Wendy was about to protest, but was too dizzy from the throttling to say anything. So when she was finally put on the floor (after orders from Dr C), all she could come out with was a giggle.

"But no, Miss Summers, we never had names before our new ones. Well, except for me of course," Dr C realised, smiling at the memory of his past life. "But I just go by Doctor Cockroach nowadays."

"Just because you guys are… whatever you are…" Wendy said, trying not to hurt them. "Doesn't mean that you just forget the names you had before… changing your name is like changing your whole life…"

"Don't be so dramatic!" Link said. "Gee, the little spin must've gone to your head… besides, your own name will be changed soon enough."

"No it won't,' Wendy said firmly. "Because I won't let them change my name. I'm going to be Wendy Ebony Summers until the day I die… again…"

"Well tough Toblerone, Miss Summers!" said a familiar voice. All four turned around to see a tall man with short blonde hair: General Monger. "For as of today, you will be known by the name of Zomberella."

Wendy stared at him blankly, blinking in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because 'Wendy' isn't a name to be feared by the innocent public, _or _make front page news in the paper. Zomberella, on the other hand, is perfect for your recent adventures." His voice was direct and strong, with no signs of backing down. Wendy glared at him and shook her head.

"No."

"No what?"

"No, I'm not going to change my name just because I'm a stupid zombie!" Wendy yelled. "No, I'm not going to leave my life behind just because of a nuclear meltdown!!"

"Don't you raise your voice to me, missy!" Monger ordered.

"You can't control me!" Wendy mimicked in his tone, anger boiling up inside her.

"We'll see about that!" Monger yelled back. From behind his back, he pulled out a tazer-rod. Wendy's eyes widened at the sight of the glowing electric beam, and as Monger slowly came towards her she was frozen in her place. She backed away, every step shaking.

"Each monster had trouble getting used to our environment, Zomberella…" he explained smoothly and calmly. "But I'm surprised that I had to bring this out so soon.'

"General, please. Miss Summers is new here, she's just confused. You have no right to treat her this way…" Dr C said, approaching the two of them slowly. Wendy didn't dare turn around to thank him, she was worried that she would get zapped when her guard dropped.

"_Zomberella _isn't confused, Doctor. She's just a stubborn mule before the branding…"

"Great! Now I'm a donkey!" Wendy yelled in frustration. "I've gotta get out of here before I turn into a hamster!" Monger trusted the rod towards her, but she quickly ran across to the other side of the room. Monger followed her closely, prepared with roller-blades on his feet. When asking the Nocturne civillens for a description on her, they said the zombie was a fast one. Boy, they sure were right.

The three monsters watched the two zig-zag across the room, Wendy's eyes glowing a pale green. "So… do we do anything?" BOB asked.

"I tried my part already," Dr C said. "But you saw how the general reacted, he's not going to take 'no' for an answer."

"Who said we help Wendy?" Link added, watching the two of them play a dangerous game of chasey. "Monger looks like he's losing."

And suddenly, a giant roar from overhead echoed through the hall. Everyone looked up to see Insectosaurus roaring a 'hello' to Wendy, and distracting her in the process.

"Um… I'm not going to ask what that is…" she said in both awe and fear. While her head was turned upward, Monger snuck up behind her and sent a shock through Wendy's corpse. She screamed in pain and fell limp to the floor, her head hitting the cold metal with a slam. Insectosaurus gave another roar of triumph, happy that his plan worked out so well.

"Nice job, buddy!" Link yelled, giving two thumbs of approval. Insectosaurus gave another happy grumble, wiggling his arms merrily. Link looked over at Wendy's body, his smile fading away slightly. "Did you have to get her so bad?"

Monger, twirling the rod like a cheerleader's baton, shrugged his shoulders casually. "The harder the hit, the faster she'll learn. Even if it means that we have to break down the girl entirely."

"Pfft. Brains aren't important," BOB said, waving a hand in the air as he brushed off the topic casually. His mouth dropped open and his pupils shrank as he forgot, once again… "Air… how do I… air!!"

'BOB, for Pete's sake…" Dr C sighed, trying to block out the sound of his gasping mouth by twisting his antennae around his fingers. "Suck in, and release…" As BOB followed the doctor's instructions, the insect looked over the silent body of Wendy Summers. The hardest thing about a zombie was that you could never tell if it was asleep, unconscious or just lying down on the ground… "Suck in…release…" he repeated, still watching Wendy.

"Monsters! Back to your cells!" Monger ordered. "Zomberella will leave in her own time." The metal doors closed behind him and Link gave a farewell, walking back to his tank. BOB, after a tight embrace, thanked Dr C for the hundredth time and walked off to his cell at last.

Dr C stared at Wendy's body, not even daring to blink. Then, just as he was about to confirm she was unconscious…

"Is he gone?"

The tiny whisper escaped her, and her eyes remained shut. Her skin remained cold, and her heart still frozen. She was nowhere near human, not in appearance anyway. But that one whisper, that one tiny question and plead for mercy… made her more human than Dr C had ever imagined her to be. "How did it feel?"

Wendy's eyes opened, and the startling white caused Dr C to jump. "Like a nightmare… zombies still feel pain, but they can't die from it… how's that for bad?"

"From the sounds of it, terrible…" he replied. He held out a hand, which Wendy stared at for a few seconds blankly. She was just surprised to see that he had human hands, with muscle and bones and white clean skin. But she still didn't accept his merciful offer. She slowly, in shaking movements, pulled herself upright and got to her feet.

She slowly walked over to her open cell, in snail-like movements that were the complete opposite of what she was able to do before. That shock made her hear angels cry, she felt that close to death. "Note to self: don't _ever _piss of the general…"

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**DrC: **Hooray! Next chapter coming up!!

**CrazyA: **Once again, please tell me if anyone's a bit OOC... I REALLY don't want to be one of the most-hated writers in the MvA catagory just because I didn't do BOB right... PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Brains and Brawn

**CrazyA: **YAY! I'm so very VERY happy with all my reviewers! No seriously! I've said it every freakin' chapter, but I mean it every single time! You guys rock!

**Dr C: **And we're only really posting this chapter for those who have reviewed, so go ahead and feel special.

**CrazyA: **Oh, and for those guys in the Susan/DrC forum. You made me laugh so hard... ^^ READ AND REVIEW!

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**5. Brains and Brawn  
****'_Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down...' __– Stand in the Rain, _Superchic**

"Dinner time!"

Wendy ran from her cell, the metal doors opening in front of her as soon as she stepped in front of them. She was starving, she didn't have anything to eat for two whole days… when she went into the main hall, she had to shield her eyes from the light again. But it was easier to get used to than it was the day before. In the middle of the hall was a grey tale with four chairs, each monster expected to sit at one.

"Let me guess," Wendy muttered. "Prison-grade meat loaf with a side of what appears to be peas?"

"Close, but not quite…" a voice from behind her said. Doctor Cockroach. The two of them got their seats, Wendy drumming her fingers on the table impatiently, and waited for the others to arrive.

"So what _do _you get around here?" Wendy asked.

"Garbage."

"That bad?"

"No, it's delicious."

"But you said it was garbage…"

"It is."

"So how can garbage be delicious?"

"You're a very confusing woman, Miss Summers."

"It's Wendy…" she muttered, still smiling about it though. "The last person who called me Miss Summers was my boss… I wonder how he's going…" Her voice trailed off as she thought back, remembering what she thought never happened.

"Why are you worried about your boss?" Dr C asked, out of both curiosity and to keep the conversation from turning awkward.

"He was the last person I spoke to before I died…" Wendy said, staring straight ahead. Too late, the awkward silence that followed was too depressing to say anything.

Or not. "What was it like when you died?" Wendy looked up at Dr C, her drumming fingers stopping at last. "Did you go anywhere? Did you feel anything?" Wendy looked away, the expression on her face causing Dr C some concern. "You don't have to answer… just wanted to fill the silence…"

It was a long time before she answered, and Dr C was wondering what took the others so long. "There was… there was nothing… I-I can't remember anything… no heaven, no hell… nothing… just darkness… I remember _how _I died, that's easy for me to remember. Noise ringing in my ears, green light, and sharp pains slicing through me… but I just can't remember anything up until Jake…"

Dr C's antennae twitched up at the mention of a new name. "Who's Jake?"

"A total scumbag…" Wendy's answer was quick and definite, she didn't need to think it out. "He tried to… um…" Her voice faded away; Dr C wasn't the only person who didn't like awkward silences. "Um… he's sort of obsessed with me… and when I died he… Jake wanted to-"

"Please, don't continue. I have a feeling that this isn't going to end out well…"

Wendy's gaze fell to the table, and she started her finger-drumming again. "Sorry…"

"_You're _sorry? _I'm_ the one who pried into the subject. _Jake's _the one who… and yet _you're _the sorry one. I repeat, Miss Summers, that you are quite a confusing woman."

Wendy smiled, her fingers slowly stopping until they went silent. "It's Wendy…"

"HEY GUYS!!" BOB yelled, sliding his way over to them. "Boy, I'm starved."

And any mood that was hanging in the air suddenly died with the arrival of the two friends. "Wait, were you two having a moment? We better go…" Link said, turning around in time with BOB.

"Nah, we're fine…" Wendy said, shaking her head. "Besides, you guys have to stay here and get your grub…"

"Otherwise we'd have to eat it ourselves…" Dr C added. The two came running, jumping up onto their seats and looking up at the ceiling. As soon as it was registered that all four monsters were seated, four plates fell from the ceiling, each one with a different meal: a plate of raw fish for Link, the promised garbage for Dr C and a leg of ham for BOB.

Wendy let out a scream when she saw hers.

"Oh…my…God…"

It was fleshy and pink, with tiny wrinkles all over the place. It was spreading a sticky goo on the plate, and when Wendy pushed the dish away from her it slid on the plate as if it were ice. She nearly vomited at the sight of it. "W-What is that?"

"A brain," BOB answered. "Even I knew that… it is a brain, right?"

"Sheep's brain, if you want to be exact," Dr C added after swallowing down an apple core.

"I know what it is… I just don't know why it's on my plate…" Wendy poked it with a fingertip, pulling a face when she heard it squelch. "Do they expect me to eat this?"

"Well, you are a zombie. So… yeah," Link said.

"But…. Can't I get a cheeseburger or something? I'll even eat prison peas…" Wendy poked it again, inspecting it from every angle.

"If you imagine that it's a cheeseburger, then it'll taste like a cheeseburger. Just try some, this could be an experience for you," Dr C said while trying to stay optimistic.

"Besides, if you don't eat it then I will," BOB promised. Wendy sighed and slowly took the brain in her hands, whimpering as some of the juice fell onto her lap.

"Oh God this is gross…" she whined. "Just think of cheeseburger… with pickles, onion and cheese… tomato sauce, greasy bread and-"

She bit down in the gooey, stringy mess. The pink muck ran down her throat, leaving a slimy aftertaste buried in her mouth. She dropped the brain back on the plate and swallowed whatever was left in her boys around her clutched their own stomach and mouths, trying not to be sick just watching her. There was pink flesh still trailing from her lips, which were slightly curved upward, and they stared in disbelief as she picked the brain up again. "That wasn't actually so bad… I might just have another bite."

"NO!!" they yelled in unison. "Please don't!!"

"Ladies, let the girl eat!" Monger yelled from the doorway. "If Zomberella doesn't feed, then she'll go berserk and try to kill you all." Everyone stared at Wendy, who was still chewing a mouthful of sheep-brain down. Saliva and blood were decorating her lips, giving her an even scarier appearance. Even though they knew Wendy would never try to _kill _anyone, they couldn't be sure when she looked like that…

"How is our new girl going, anyway?" Monger asked, approaching Wendy from behind. Wendy snapped around quickly, prepared for another shock. Monger chuckled at her determination, showing empty hands to her. "You needn't get worried, Zomberella. We only pull out the rod if things get out of hand."

Wendy wiped her mouth on her sleeve and cleared her throat of brains. "I'm sorry about yesterday, then. It wasn't right for me to cause a fuss just because of a stupid name…"

Link stared at her, eyebrow raised. "Did you practise that in the mirror?"

Wendy bit her lip and looked up at him innocently. "…maybe…"

"Apology accepted anyway, Zomberella." Monger smiled, victory was sweet. He knew that the others would keep calling her Wendy, but that was just because they were her friends. "Glad to see that we've found an appropriate food source for you, by the way."

"Why did you guys choose brains?" Wendy asked. "I mean, I'm still human… I don't suddenly go savage and start killing millions as soon as I come back from the dead…"

"So what _do _you usually eat?" Monger asked.

Wendy shrugged her shoulders and wiped her hands on her jeans. "Microwave Mac-and-cheese."

Monger nodded, storing the information into his mind. "Good to know."

"So General, what do you want with us?" Dr C asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"I'm sure that Zomberella has many questions to ask us about her new life here," Monger answered. "And yesterday we never got to answer them. So come on, noobie," he turned to Wendy again, "fire away."

"For starters… where am I?"

"A facility for monsters and threats to mankind."

"Wow, I feel _really_ special now. Does anyone know I'm here?"

"No. Everyone thinks that you're still six-feet-under."

"Good," she whispered. "If they think I'm dead then they won't worry about me... wait! Jake! What happened to Jake?"

"Jake?" Monger echoed.

"Jake! Jake Nelson!!" Wendy was almost yelling it by now. "That little slime-bag tried to rape my dead carcass!" Link and Dr C were twitching their eyes at the thought of something that sick, while BOB just blinked. Link might have to do a little bit of explaining later on.

"Jake will be found and be put under hypnosis," Monger explained. "And by 'hypnosis' I mean he'll be wiped of the memory by a heavily-armed team." Wendy sighed with relief. She enjoyed the image of a screaming and kicking Jake being brain-wiped by a group of government officials. "Anything else?"

Wendy looked around at the others, who were waiting for her to speak. "Don't worry, just ask whatever's going through your mind," Link said helpfully.

Wendy bit the inside of her mouth and looked up at Monger in the eye. She leaned in closer and whispered loudly... "Can I have a shower?" After three months of lying in the dirt, a girl really could pick up a bit of a scent.

Monger chuckled, finding it hilarious that a girl as filthy and hideous as she was would still ask for a shower. "Sure, after your workout."

The men at the table groaned, each one hitting the metal with a fist, their head, or the top-half of their blobby body. Wendy looked at their expressions and then back to the general. "What workout?"

Dr C sat up slowly, putting his head in his hands. "The prison psychologists think it's necessary for us to relieve any tension we have built up before we take it out on ourselves..."

"That alone makes us sound like we're suicidal..." Link added.

"So they force us into running stupid exercises and training..." BOB continued. "I mean, it's not like we're training for anything major like saving the world… right?"

...

"Exactly, we're never going to get out of here. So what's the point in doing it?" Link whined. Wendy looked from one doomed face to the other, letting out a sigh.

"Okay, let's just get this over and done with..." she got off her seat, and looked at Monger in the eye. "If it's as bad as I think it is, then I'll be happy when it's done. Where do we go?"

Suddenly, the floor beneath them all made a groaning noise and fell down at high-speed. All the monsters screamed at the sudden drop, while Monger stayed calm about the situation. BOB was laughing like crazy, since he was firmly attached to the floor with his stickiness. Link was yelling at the adrenaline rush and the feeling of wind against his scales. Wendy was trying to get a grip onto the floor, which was hopeless since it was all one smooth tile. And Dr C was shutting his eyes and trying not to throw up as his stomach settled again.

"NO WONDER YOU HATE IT!!" Wendy screamed over the top of the whooshing air. "IT HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET AND I'M ALREADY WISHING IT WAS OVER!!!"

"Don't worry, Miss Summers!" Dr C managed to get out, clutching his hand over his mouth. "Pretty soon we'll come to a-"

The metal dish made a sudden stop, everyone wobbling on their feet (or in BOB's case, just wobbling more than usual.) Dr C smiled and stood up straight, his face turning to his natural shade. "A stop..."

Wendy looked around the deserted room. It wasn't much of a difference from the one she was in before. Tall, grey metal walls with panels hidden all over the place like nearly every other room she had seen so far. Not much to be in awe about and nothing to be afraid of. The only difference was that this room was just a lil' bigger and more rounded.

And suddenly, beds of knives came rising from the floor. Several spring-loaded traps with sharp metal teeth closed and opened in a steady rhythm and steel bricks flew from walls. It was a death-trap, with a very little survival rank.

And all our five heroes did was gulp.

"I thought there was a hoop of fire when we did this..." BOB said, staring at the obstacle course blankly.

"Nah, they ripped that out years ago when the Invisible Man died," Link said. BOB's pupil shrank and he turned wildly to the fish-monster, panic and fear in his eyes. Dr C grabbed Link's head-fins and pulled him over, hissing something into his ear. After a few moments, Link suddenly chuckled and put on a big smile for BOB. "Just kidding!! Yeah, he's... uh..."

"He escaped!" Wendy put in helpfully.

"Right!" Dr C said, turning to BOB. "The Invisible Man made it out of here!"

"Oh good for him!" BOB said happily. "I was worried for a second there... you guys really shouldn't scare me like that-"

"LADIES!" Monger yelled, making them all jump. "We don't have all day! Now, who's going first?" Only the blue blob of courage put his hand up, a calm smile on his face. "Good, BOB. Now get up here!"

"What?" BOB asked, looking surprised. "I said I wanted to go first!"

"And you are first," the general replied.

BOB chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "I said _first_. I want... to go... _first_..." he said nice and slowly, as if the general was from another universe entirely.

"I think BOB means that he wants to go last..." Link explained. "I'll go first."

"Nu-uh!" BOB argued, poking Link in the chest. "_I _want to go first!!"

"You don't even understand what 'first' means!!" he yelled and poked back.

"I do so!!" BOB yelled, the pushes getting more and more violent.

"Quit it!!" Dr C shouted over the top of the two, pushing his way between them. "We're not making this any easier! Besides, Miss Summers is already at the starting point."

Everyone turned to see Wendy standing at the first square, breathing deeply with her eyes shut. She stretched her legs, careful not to break them off by accident, and rotated her neck. She tried to remain calm, to be brave, and try not to do anything stupid.

"What the heck am I doing?" she hissed at herself, bending over and staring at the floor.

"Zomberella," Monger yelled. "Get ready to start the course."

"I'm so doomed..."

"In 5..."

"You can do it, Link!"

"BOB, I'm here. That's Wendy over there."

"3, 2..."

"Oh. GO WENDY!!"

"Good luck, Miss Summers!"

"GO!"

Wendy leapt to her feet and sprinted, coming to the first obstacle: a rising and falling bed of needles. She cringed as she leapt over the top, managing to land on the other side without falling over. _"Yes! I __**can**__ do this!" _she thought to herself.

"Keep at it, Wendy!" Link called out to her. She smiled, taking a deep breath, before rushing to the next part. Heavy steel bricks flew from the walls, aimed at the poor girl's moving image. But because of her speed, she managed to swerve her way around them all, only just missing a few at the end.

She could beat this. She _knew _she could.

The other monsters kept cheering as she made her way as quickly as she could through shootings of tranquiliser darts and other pointy-hurty-things. And then she reached the final part...

The snapping jaws of pointed metal, slicing through the air like carnivorous animals from the nightmares of Doctor Seuss.

She stared at them, imagining how painful it was going to be if she got stuck halfway through. She bit her lip, her breathing growing faster and faster as she watched them in both awe and fear.

"I-I can't do it..." she muttered. She turned to General Monger, her eyes wider than usual. "I'm not doing it!" she yelled across the room to him.

"Chicken!" he yelled back.

"I am _not _chicken!" she replied.

"Wendy, just jump!" yelled a frustrated Link. He could get through the course easily, and with far more style than she could. "You just gotta follow the beat!"

"What beat?!?" Wendy screamed back. "All it does is... bite! There isn't a beat!"

"Miss Summers! You've got this far already, you shouldn't just... give up!" Dr C yelled. "Keep at it!"

"BUT WHERE'S THE BEAT!?!?" she screamed again.

"THERE IS NO BEEF!!" BOB yelled back. He blinked and turned to Link, nudging him in his side. "Is there beef?"

Link pushed BOB off of him and yelled back to Wendy, "JUST JUMP!!"

Wendy sighed and did as she was told, letting out a gladiator-styled yell as she did so. She cut through the air, her eyes shut tightly as if it would make the world disappear around her. The floor came closer to her... she was almost through... it was the end... she had finished...

But the jaws grabbed her by the ankle, pulling her back into the trap. She screamed as they sliced through her, cutting her stomach open in a slow, sever and agonising way. Monger pushed a button on the wall, turning everything off and forcing them back into the walls. Wendy cried out, her vision getting a bit hazy, and tried to support the upper-half of her body on her two arms, only to fall onto her sore stomach.

"Oh..." BOB said in awe, staring at the gooey packages revealed beneath the cut. "So _that's _what you guys look like inside. You're gross!"

"That... that isn't right..." Link said, looking away and trying not to gag. Dr C stared at Wendy from a distance, trying his best not to show any signs of grossed-out-ness. Even Monger was having a hard time about it, his usually firm face turning a shade of deathly white.

"Doc..." he said, pointing a finger to the cockroach. "Go... get her to her room... we'll send you up with a first-aid kit..."

Dr C choked on a laugh, looking at Wendy's torn stomach. "I think I'll be needing a _bit_ more than just a first-aid kit, sir..."

"Just get her outta here!" he yelled.

Dr C flinched at the sudden burst and quickly walked over to Wendy, crouching down next to her. "Can you stand?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied, her voice breaking. She tried sitting up again, leaning upward and getting her top-half off the floor. But it didn't work, she just cried out in pain and rolled onto her back, revealing how deep the cut was.

"Fine, I can't..." she muttered, tiny tears forming in her eyes. "How do I get up to my room if I can't even _stand_?"

Dr C looked at her up and down, sighing in frustration as he did the obvious. He slid his hands underneath her and pulled her up, bridal-style. Wendy blinked as the floor grew away from her, looking up to the genius before her. He held her close to his chest, keeping her stable and walked the two of them to a panel in the wall, which opened at their prescence.

Wendy stared in awe at the blurry image she saw of the prison. It was _huge_... she had never seen anything this size before. It was sort of beautiful... in a whole secret-military-base kind of way. But why was it all fading out like this?

Why was her head hurting?

And why did everything just go all dark?

* * *

**CrazyA: **Hooray for slight-sluffy!!!! YAYZ!! Please review! The more I get, the faster I'll work!

**Dr C: **And trust me on this, you'll be wanting the next chapter up ASAP... because... *nervous coughing* Um...

**CrazyA: **DR COCKROACH IN A TOPHAT! REVIEW FOR YOUR LIVES AND FANGIRL-SQUEALS!!!


	6. Not Everyone's Mad Here

**CrazyA:** Hey y'all! How are ma homies going?!

**Dr C:** Please, just back away slowly before she goes insane...

**CrazyA:** Oh shush. It's just that, once again, I've been getting AWESOME reviewers! Some people have even named my story the best of the 'Monsters vs. Aliens' category! To those who have done so, I frickin' love you! And even my sister (who had secretly been reading this behind my back...grrr....) has reviewed! YAY! I highly reccommend that you check out her account. Her account name is Black Lace Lamb and she ROCKS!

**Dr C:** She writes mostly for anime, though she has told her baby sister of some MvA story ideas... ^^

**CrazyA:** So please, keep me happy by reviewing! You won't regret it!

* * *

**6. Not Everyone's Mad Here  
**_**'Monster... how should I feel? Creatures lie here, looking through the window...'** __– Monster Remix, _Meg & Dia

A yellow dress...

...with a white apron?

Wendy looked around her, she was in a forest again. Why did everything happen in a forest? Somewhere in the distance, she could hear laughter and clapping. And music... beautiful, beautiful music.

She slowly made her way towards the noise, seeing at last what the source was. A long steel table with four matching chairs stood in the middle of a patch of grass. There were several teapots and cups around the table, and hundreds of different types of cakes.

As for the people there, they were something different entirely.

At the end of the table, the very far end, was a giant fuzz-coated bug. Insectosaurus. Except just around his neck was tied a pair of huge, white rabbit ears... On the other end of the table were three others, Wendy's fellow monsters.

BOB was asleep on the table, having a sugar crash, with a pair of grey mouse ears somehow attached to the top of his body.

Link had brown rabbit ears on his own head, not suiting him at all, and was sipping tea with the other figure beside him.

The other figure was Doctor Cockroach, who was discussing something about uranium to him. He wore a waistcoat and pocket watch, with a massive top-hat balanced on his head with holes at the top for his antennae.

"Ah..." Wendy muttered. "Alice in Wonderland..."

Dr C turned to her, hearing her comment over the top of his own discussion. "Sorry miss, but would you mind keeping quiet for a few minutes while I explain this to the hare?" he asked as politely as he could. Wendy just nodded, to much in awe of the situation to object. "Thankyou... as I was saying, uranium could help the Queen's reign greatly if she just listened to me!"

"I agree, I agree," Link replied. "But how do we get _her_ to agree to the plan?" The two of them looked over to BOB, who had his face coated with cream and cake.

"No more soup..." he muttered in his sleep.

Link and Dr C looked back at each other, smiling widely and clinking their teacups together. "He's done it again!" Link said merrily, adjusting the monocle on his eye in a professional manner.

"Bless that dormouse..." Dr C said, more to himself than anyone else. He turned to Wendy, a polite smile on hiss face. "Do you have an invitation?" he asked.

Wendy blinked. "Say what?"

"An invitation!" Link cried. "Do you have it or not?"

"I don't think so..." Wendy replied.

"Then sit down!" he said merrily. Wendy smiled and took a seat, a cup of tea already waiting there for her. This was getting confusing... but she'd have to live with it. Besides, she'd just wake up and it'll all be done.

"So Alice, what do you do for a living?" Dr C asked, looking at Wendy for an answer.

"My name isn't Alice, its Wendy..." she said. "Why do you always get my name wrong?"

Dr C blinked, his smile growing as he leaned in further towards her. "What do you mean 'always'?"

It was Wendy's turn to blink. "Say what?"

"This is the first time we've met, and yet you said 'always'."

"Oh..." breathed Wendy. "But if this is the first time we've met, then why did you call me Alice? Wouldn't you just ask for my name?"

Dr C shrugged, lifting his teacup and taking another sip. "Just estimating, my love."

Wendy blinked, wondering why he just called her that. And why she was dreaming that he had called her that... but Link interrupted her thoughts by throwing a cake into her face.

She coughed on the lemon cream, wiping it out of her eyes and hair. "What was that for?" she asked, irritated and confused at the same time.

"I figured you were hungry," he said calmly, as if he were telling the time or explaining the obvious. Insectosaurus let out a wail, waving his stubby arms around in the air. "Sorry, rabbit, but pies are for normal people... Rabbits can't have any."

Why did that sound like something out of a Twix commercial?

Wendy stared at Link, confused that she could dream up the ever-loving fish-monster as a total jerk towards his best friend. "This is just... _mad._ How can you call yourself normal, anyway? You're a monster! We all are!"

BOB woke up, blinking his one and only eye and looking around in amazement. "No we're not... I'm a mouse, Link is a hare, and Insectosaurus is a rabbit. You and Doctor Cockroach are the only humans here."

"BOB is right," Dr C said, setting down his cup and picking out a large slice of sponge cake. "Be thankful that you are who you are..."

Wendy stared at him, blanking out for a minute or so before looking back down at her cup of tea. He was right... they all were. She and Dr C were the only two monsters that were once human. If that was an advantage in this dreamland, then was it an advantage out in the normal world too?

Dr C suddenly looked down at his pocket watch, opening it up and gasping at the time. "My dear, I think it's time we get going."

Wendy looked up from her delicate china, getting more and more confused. "Why? What's happening?"

"We're going to be late," he pushed, still not explaining what was happening, as he slipped the watch into his waistcoat and stood up, tipping his hat to Link, BOB and Insectosaurus.

"Late for what?" Wendy asked. Dr C smiled at her before running off into the woods, leaving Wendy with two options: run after him or stuff her face full of cake. "Late for what?!?" she yelled again.

"For when you wake up!" he yelled, disappearing behind the trees.

Wendy sighed and shook her head, giving out a sigh. "This is stupid..." she muttered. "Is he always like this?" she asked as she turned around to the other three.

Wherever they were.

Their chairs were left standing there, with no one sitting in them. Even Insectosaurus had vanished, not leaving a single piece of fuzz behind. Wendy looked all around her for a sign, but she couldn't see anyone hiding behind the trees. She turned back to the table and picked up Dr C's slice of sponge cake.

"What's going on around here?" she asked herself, staring at the cake. Slowly, it crumbled away in her hand, the soft golden texture morphing into a squirming handful of maggots.

Wendy screamed and dropped the handful of squirming pests, watching them crawl around on the grass. She wiped her hand on her skirt, trying to get the last of them off, and kicked away the ones that crawled towards her feet. She looked up at the table, screaming again at the sight of hundreds of thousands of maggots crawling along the table and towards her.

They attacked her, eating through her pale blue skin and tearing away at the flesh. She waved her arms and tried shaking them off, but they stayed on like glue. They got to her stomach, eating and eating and eating away. The pain was killing her... she wanted them to stop...

...her eyes opened up in a start, blinking at the sudden light that flooded her room. She heard someone over in the background, but didn't quite register that they were there. She rubbed her eyes and tried sitting up, but her stomach gave a sharp sting and told her to lie still. Wendy finally looked over, tilting her head to the side, and smiled at the familiar face.

"What's up, doc?" she asked him.

Dr C looked up from the first-aid kit and smiled back. "Not much, I'm afraid," he answered. "I'm just stitching up that cut of yours... plus some other ones from your explosion. Figured that they could use a bit of attention..."

Wendy moved as far as she could, seeing that he had rolled up her shirt in order to get to the cut. It was fully stitched up, wiped clean of stray blood, and looking better than ever.

She looked over to her arm, which was revealed by a rolled-up sleeve. The many cuts that had decorated the limb were damp with antiseptic and disinfectant. Most had been stitched up already, and only a few were still savage-looking.

Wendy smiled at them and looked back to Dr C. "Thanks..."

"It's fine," he replied, threading up a needle. "Just try to relax... it'll be okay."

Wendy rested her head on the cold tiles again, staring up at the ceiling. "How long was I out for?" she asked.

"About... fifteen minutes."

"Good..." Wendy said. "Any longer in that place and I think I would've blown my brains out..."

"What place?" he asked as he poked the needle through her skin. Wendy flinched, biting her lip but without making any noise. "Sorry..." he apologised.

"Don't worry about it," Wendy said. "I'm a bit of a wuss..."

Dr C smiled and shook his head, thinking the exact opposite of her. "So what place were you stuck in?"

"Wonderland..." she answered. Dr C shed a look of concern to her, which Wendy just laughed off. "I know, it sounds weird... but I'm serious. I... I dream fairytales... nearly all my life. And this time it was Lewis Carol."

"Interesting," Dr C commented. "And surprising... what was it like?"

Wendy looked up at him, surprised that he wanted to know. Usually people just laughed at the very mention and called her weird. "It opened my eyes a little... you guys were all there, actually... the tea-party scene."

Dr C chuckled at the thought of everyone sitting down for a tea-party. Scary mental images of everyone looking like people out of 'Pride and Prejudice' entered his mind, but he just laughed until they went away.

"It _was _kinda funny, actually. BOB was the dormouse, Link was the hare, Insectosaurus was the white rabbit and you were the mad hatter," Wendy said, trying to take focus away from the pain in her arm. "You actually looked pretty swell in a top hat..." she said, unable to look him in the eye. "But everything went weird after the maggots..."

"Maggots?"

"I don't know why... but I dreamt of maggots..." Wendy said as he finished up the stitch, moving onto another. "It was more like a nightmare..."

Dr C shrugged, threading the needle with fresh thread. "Not that surprising... maggots are now one of your deadly fears..."

"My deadly fear... is a worm?"

"Technically a decomposer," Dr C edited. "Just think about it, Miss Summers. When a...corpse... is buried, the first thing that comes rushing to see them is maggots and other pests. They live off of dead organisms, it's how they survive. Somewhere in your subconscious, you know and fear this... plus, they're disgusting."

"And creepy," Wendy C chuckled, making Wendy smile. She loved it when she made a person laugh. "So, just guessing from that lovely little speech you just gave... you're a psychologist?"

"Of course not!" he said, slightly hurt at the thought of being pushed down from super-genius to a gentleman with a couch and notebook. "I'm a mad scientist!"

Wendy laughed, realising that the mad hatter idea sort of worked for him. "That would explain your..." She couldn't say it. She didn't want to offend him. She didn't want to hurt his feelings.

But he understood what she was trying to say. "It was an experiment gone wrong. But then again, it did end up working... just not the way that I hoped it would."

Though she wasn't much of a science-girl, even if she once worked at a nuclear plant, and had a feeling she wouldn't understand a word he would say, Wendy still plucked up the courage to ask: "What were you experimenting?"

Dr C blinked. No one had really asked him that before. They just heard he had been in a bad experiment and mutated into a super-sized cockroach. They were happy with just that. But apparently, Wendy wasn't. "If an ordinary man could have the protection, long-lasting life and abilities that a cockroach has..."

Wendy blinked and twisted her head towards him, looking majorly confused. "No offence or anything, but aren't cockroaches pretty easy to kill? I mean, a bit of bug-spray and a tissue and they're long gone, right?"

"But that's just because of their size," Dr C explained, his eyes glowing brightly with enthusiasm. "But imagine a species of human beings who can survive nuclear war? Humans that had thicker skin that could protect them throughout their lives?! Humans that could survive whatever came at them! That could accept their foes 'best shot' and live on!! MwahahahahhahahahahahahahahaHAAAAA!!!!!"

He looked over to Wendy, who was in a mix of both fear and hilarity, and hung his head slightly, his attention focused on her arm. "Sorry about that... I usually give a good laugh whenever I'm in 'science mode'."

" It was a good idea, Doctor, even if it didn't turn out to be...a success. And don't be sorry, I get over-excited when watching _Buffy_. Once I attacked my Dad, still thinking that everyone around me was a vampire and accidentally called my mother 'Willow'..." Wendy smirked at the thought of it. "But then again, I was eighteen and pretty nuts back then."

"You watch '_Buffy the Vampire Slayer'_?" Dr C asked curiously.

Wendy snapped her head up, staring at him completely bug-eyed. "_You _watch it?!?"

"Sorry to get your hopes up," Dr C said, smiling at her. She sighed and put her head back on the metal floor. "I just didn't expect you to be the sort of person who watched it..."

"My Dad always said that a girl my age shouldn't be watching shows for teenagers," Wendy said with a smile. "Never stopped me though... You guys sometimes remind me of them... you especially."

Dr C blinked, tying up the last stitch. "Really? Should I be flattered?"

"Of course! Anthony Stewart Head is a seriously brilliant actor... he made librarians everywhere cool..." Wendy smiled.

"Do you see yourself as any of the characters?" Dr C asked. "What about Buffy?"

"No, I'm nothing like Buffy. She's the gorgeous, vampire-killing heroine of the group... and I'm just Wendy..." she said, her happiness fading away at the thought. And now, she wasn't even that. She was below the norm. She was a hideous, rotting corpse. That was all she'd ever be.

"Don't be so blue," Dr C said. "Sure, you're not like a girl from TV. But that doesn't make you any less of a person. I only learnt this lesson a few years ago... before that, I was just brooding and vowing to never come near an experiment again. But when I realised this truth, it really put things in perspective for me... all it took was the help of a few good friends."

Wendy's smile slowly crept back to her face. "Are you sure you're not a psychologist?"

He chuckled, packing away the first-aid kit. "Sorry Wendy, but no. I just happen to know the right things to say."

A blush spread to Wendy's face and she looked away from him as she slowly stood up, trying to ignore the small pain in her stomach. Dr C looked over to her, seeing that she was struggling on her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh... I'm fine..." Wendy said, trying to ignore the blush. "It's just that... you actually said my name without me to remind you." Plus the fact that it actually sounded... special... when it came from him.

He smiled behind her back and blinked when he noticed a large, bulky object in her bag. "Can I ask what's in there?"

Wendy turned around, walking over to the bag and unzipping the cover. The metal of her CD player was revealed, and she carefully pulled the bulk out. "Just Miss Hunka-Junk here... she's been scratching up my CDs like a lawnmower... my Aqua album is the only one surviving."

"You listen to Aqua?"

"Yes! I love electro-pop!" she said, beaming sunshine out of her ears.

"Same!" The doctor's eyes glowed, a wide, enthusiastic smile on his face.

"What a random happenstance!!" Wendy's smile was almost wider than Dr C's. She pulled out the bright, blue and oh-so-bubbly CD from her bag and pressed it into his hands. He opened up the CD, inspecting the disc, and scanned through the song-titles on the back.

"BOB and Link can't stand the fact that I listen to them," Dr C said, almost as enthusiastically as he was about his experiments. "It's good to know there's another fan in here."

"Most people only know them for 'Barbie Girl', but my favourite _has _to be 'My Oh My'... guess because of my whole 'fairy-tale' fetish..." Wendy said. She hadn't smiled this much in ages. Her cheeks were starting to get sore...

"Then you _obviously _haven't listened to 'Roses Are Red'!" he exclaimed, tapping the name of the song excitedly with his fingertip.

"I _would _put it on, but I'm worried that it'll become as broken as all the other ones," she said. At the thought of 'broken', she looked down at her stomach and traced the stitches carefully with a fingertip. "Do you reckon I'll ever be able to pass that thing?"

"What thing?"

"You know, the big... spiky... metal-trap."

"Of course you will! It just takes time, that's all..." He handed the CD back to her, encouraging her spirits with a smile. "And whenever you... don't make it... I'll be there to clean up the cuts."

Wendy smiled back. "Thanks... but what do you guys mean by a beat? I don't get it..."

"Well, when you were going through the course you kept stopping and starting," he explained. "What you need to do is find a certain beat to follow without any stops, and then you'll make it out okay."

A sudden spark of an idea flashed across his mind, and his smile grew wider. "Brainwave..." he said to himself, staring into space. He looked over to the CD player and then back to Wendy. "Do you mind if I borrow this?" he asked, taking grip of the handle.

"Why do you need it?" Wendy asked, oblivious to his new scheme.

"It's a long story, but please trust me on this," he said, still smiling as he pulled it up to his chest and balanced the first-aid kit on top. "Oh! And I'll need the CD also."

"Uh...sure?" She balanced the CD atop of the stereo, praying that he wouldn't do anything... stupid with it.

"Thankyou, my dear," he said, sorting out the bulky load in his arms. "You won't regret this!"

"I hope you're right..." she muttered, more to herself than to him. "Hey, where are you going?" she asked as he walked towards a wall.

"Back to my room, I'm right next door," he explained as the wall moved open like a sliding door. Sure enough, a similar room was on the other side with a bright, white and healthy glow to the place. Several wiz-a-ma-bobs and gears were lying on the floor, scattered in all directions, and Wendy was pretty sure that she could see the outline of ash where a miniature explosion was once created.

"Promise you'll take care of them," she said, just to be safe.

For a second, he didn't say anything, just standing perfectly still with his back to her. But then he turned around, a reassuring smile on his face. "I promise."

And just as Wendy was about to thank him, the walls closed up again. She let out a sad sigh, looking around the room for any new source of entertainment. No such luck.

"Now what am I meant to do?" she asked herself. Her voice seemed to echo in the lonely shadows of her room. Man, this was bleak. She circled the walls, wondering if any new rooms would appear for her. But none. She was just about to give up hope, taking a final step before lying down on the cold metal of the floors, when finally, something did appear.

But it wasn't a room.

The window took up the whole wall, letting in a blaze of the light in the massive main room of the base. Wendy was in awe. The last time she saw this, she was half-conscious. Only now could she take in how cool it all was.

It reminded her of her old job, back at NANP. It had the same mechanical feel to the place as the nuclear plant had. People of elevating tiles floated around the place, taking care of the monsters and drinking expensive-looking coffees.

"Wow..." she whispered. She sat down on the floor, a smiling at this new world around her. Sometimes it was fun just to watch and listen to everyone around her... one of the girls dressed in a white lab-coat was explaining about her cousin's baby. A young fellow, apparently called 'Steve-O' by his friend, was going out for dinner with a blind-date.

Some part of Wendy was envious. All these people around her were allowed to go outside, breathe the fresh air, and visit their friends and family. But Insectosaurus, Link, BOB, Dr C, and herself were contained. But another part considered herself lucky. She didn't have to go outside anymore.

She had everything she needed right in here.

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**CrazyA: **I got everything off my chest in the first AN... so I'll just post up a hint for the next chapter... WE WILL REVEAL THE TRUE SECRET BEHIND THE I-POD!!

**Dr C: **So please review!


	7. Cupid vs Cockroach

**CrazyA: **Hey y'all! How are mah homiez an' peeps in da hood?!? Can I hear y'all shout out loud!

_*Cricket chirp*_

**Dr C: **Jess... please stop...

**CrazyA: **Oh fine. I'm just happy because I saw MvsA for THE THIRD TIME and have confirmed the proud fact... _*points to DrC* _YOU CHECKED OUT SUSAN'S BOOBIES!!!

**Dr C: **I-I-I would do no such thing! Um... read and review!!!

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**7. Cupid vs. Cockroach**  
_**'Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay awhile... and she will be loved,'- **She Will Be Loved, _Maroon 5

If Wendy was watching Dr C, she would probably be freaked out.

He tore at the speakers of the stereo, breaking down the mechanics bit by bit. Okay, it didn't look great right now. And Wendy would probably be upset and confused at why her stereo was slightly more damaged than usual... but he would make that frown fade away when he showed her the latest breakthrough of music history.

The C-Square.

He hadn't slept in days. He didn't really feel he had to. He just had to finish this project. Not just for her, but for probably everyone in existence. This was going to be one of his best inventions yet... if it worked, of course.

It was like a miniature stereo that anybody could take anywhere. You didn't even need a CD, all the music would be stored in there already thanks to a computer system he was working on. And, of course, the first thing going on Wendy's model would be her Aqua CD. It came with a set of headphones made out of a stick of strawberry gum, several paper-clips and the wires and speakers from Wendy's original stereo.

All of this just to prove that 'Roses Are Red' was their greatest hit.

But, for a less-lousy excuse, it would also help her out when Wendy has to run the course again. She already had the speed and stamina... she just needed a little bit of help with 'the beat'.

But BOB wasn't exactly helping by throwing his favourite rubber ball against the wall of his cell. The steady but irritating rhythm was distracting Dr C, and he couldn't take much more of this madness.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Squish.

"Hey, I didn't know my eye could do that!"

"BOB, please! I'm trying to create a life-changing invention and you aren't exactly helping!" Dr C yelled through the wall. On the other side, BOB blinked and mournfully dropped the ball on the floor, watching it roll away.

"No need to yell..." he said, loud enough for Dr C to hear. He felt a little guilty for being so mean to BOB, but when the silence returned once more, he couldn't help but smile. Now he could finally work in peace.

Meanwhile, BOB sat sadly in the middle of his cell, staring around at all the blank walls. He let out a sad sigh in his misery and slimed his way over to the opposite wall, the one he and Link shared.

"You out there, Link?" he called. After a few seconds of silence, he finally heard a reply from his only friend at the moment.

"What is it, buddy?"

"Doctor Cockroach has been bashing up Wendy's stereo for _days_... do you reckon he's okay?" he asked.

"BOB, I know the Doc a little better than you do. He's fine. Just don't get in his way while he's making up a gizmo," Link said, talking between strains. "Why d'you ask?"

"Meh, I forgot," he said. His voice was cheerful once more and the mournful tone he once had was long gone. Link chuckled. BOB was usually able to make a quick recovery after a hurtful comment. "But is it just me, or is he working on this project a little more than normal?"

"BOB, there isn't such thing as 'normal' in here..." Link replied, sighing with relief as he lifted the weight over his head. He threw it aside, watching it slowly sink to the floor of his aquarium. "But I will admit, he_ has _been a bit different recently..."

"Since about the time Wendy got here, don't you think?" BOB commented.

Link blinked, pausing mid-stretch. A smile crawled across his face, and a light-bulb flashed inside his mind. "Yeah... yeah he has, hasn't he?" He stopped stretching and flexing and walked over to the wall, saying in a whisper as if the doctor was just a few feet behind him, "Do you reckon he has a crush on our new-girl?"

"Ew! No!" BOB retched. "That's gross... what's a crush?"

"You know, BOB. A thing. The hots."

After a quiet minute of serious thinking from BOB (if that was even possible) he shook his head. "Nope. Still don't get it."

"Oh forget it. Just go play with your ball."

BOB smiled and did so, retreating to Dr C's wall and continuing his fun until he started yelling again. The fish-monkey couldn't help but laugh. The Doc sure was pissed off today. Suddenly, a roar from the other side of the cell interrupted his train of thought.

"Hey, buddy! I missed you in training!" Link said excitedly, swimming his way over to the opposite wall. "Where were you anyway?"

Another roar, and a few little grumbles.

"Oh I forgot... how was it?" Link asked.

A third roar, sounding happier than the others.

"Nice to know..." Link said. "Hey. What do you think about Dr C and Wendy?"

Grumble.

Link sighed, no one seemed to get the obvious picture. "I reckon he's got a bit of a crush on her... I mean, he started making this thing out of her stereo and now he won't stop making it. And, you gotta admit, they're a bit... I don't know... they just connect better than they do with anyone else."

Another loud roar that went on for quite some time as Insectosaurus wiggled his arms in frustration.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything, I'm just saying, that's all." But then, another light-bulb flashed in his mind. Seemed like Dr C wasn't the only one who could have a brain-wave. "However... someone might just have to play Cupid for a while..."

The final roar deafened him, and even threw him backwards into the other wall.

Link slowly got to his feet, rubbing his sore back with care. "Who are you, my mother? I swear, I'm not gonna get things complicated."

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A red flight above her flashed, and Wendy knew it was time to get up from her reading. Recently she had started borrowing books from the private collection of Dr C, and her current favourite was 'War of the Worlds'. It was a good read, she was always into sci-fi and fantasy. Anything out of the ordinary. She guessed that was why she was able to get used to everything so quickly.

The wall moved aside, revealing the usual metal meeting room with the usual metal table and their usual metal chairs. She walked inside, hands in pockets, and waited outside Dr C's door as she usually did. And sure enough, it opened up to reveal the scientist with a screwdriver digging around inside a tiny, white square that fitted nicely in the palm of his hand.

"Hey there!" she said cheerily, giving a little wave.

He gasped at the sound of her voice and dropped whatever he was holding behind his back. It landed with a crash, making his eye and antennae twitch in frustration at the very sound of hard work going to waste.

"H-Hi there," he said, trying to keep calm as he walked out of the room. The door closed behind him, not letting Wendy get another glimpse of the invention. "How have you been sleeping?"

"The usual. This time it was Aladdin with BOB as the genie," Wendy said casually. Her stories weren't as strange as they were the first few times Dr C had heard them. They were actually quite entertaining. "Wait, when you think it through, that's _seriously _unusual... Just wondering, is my stereo still okay?"

Dr C chuckled. "Wendy, you ask me this question every time I see you. And I always give you the same answer. Ju-"

"'Just trust me, this is going to work,'" she quoted perfectly. "And don't worry. I _do _trust you. It's just that I also want my stereo to remain in one piece at the same time."

"I've had to fix up few things, but I can promise that it'll be better than you'd ever expect it to be..."

"Hey guys!" Link cried, his door opening. He ran over to them, hugging them from behind and pulling them close to his damp scales. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

Wendy shrugged, pushing herself away. "Hard to tell if you're indoors all the time. Why are you so cheery today? Wait..." her smile faded and she glared at him coldly. "You cheated in cards again, didn't you?"

"_Cheated?_ Wendy, that's harsh. I never cheat. Besides, do I need a reason to be cheery?" he asked, giving a cocky grin to her.

She shrugged. "I guess not."

"Link, are you trying to hide something from us?" Dr C asked. "Because the last time you were like this, you had broken my screwdriver." He tried looking behind Link's back, and not seeing anything damaged in his hands, raised an eyebrow at him.

"Doc, I'm fine... and so, by the way, is Wendy," he added slyly, taking him under his arm again and pulling him away from the ultra-confused girl.

"What?! What are you talking about?" Dr C hissed at him, looking back at Wendy. She stared at the two of them suspiciously but with curiosity, her hands behind her back as she twiddled her fingers.

"You gotta admit, you have _some _feelings for her, right? C'mon, man to man."

"Link! For the love of Einstein! I _do _like her, but not in _that _sense!" he hissed. "What on Earth gave you that idea?"

"Well... you have seemed different ever since she got here."

"How so?" Dr C asked, his anger fading into curiosity.

"I don't know, you just _are. _You're just... _happier_," he finally said. Dr C turned away from him, staring down at his feet and thinking it over. He didn't _feel _happier. But he didn't feel sad. He just felt like he always did.

"Forget it Link. And don't you _dare _get this idea to Wendy."

"HA! Knew it!"

"What?"

"You're embarrassed! _And _you're starting to call her by her first name! You _do _like her!" Link teased, poking him in the shoulder-blade. Dr C shrugged him off.

"Link, how the bloody hell did you get started on this idea?" he swore, getting tired of this game fairly quickly.

Link retracted his arm, looking over across the hall to see BOB and Wendy talking to each other. "Let's just say that BOB made a good point. Which made me realise several other good points. And Insectosaurus agrees with me."

A loud roar came from overhead, turning everyone's attention to the giant, now clean-and-fuzzy, bug. 'No I don't!'

"See, he agrees!"

A low grumble came from the giant's belly. 'Whatever. Don't blame me for getting your butt kicked.'

"What was BOB's good point?" Dr C asked.

"Just that you seem to work on her invention more than any of your other ones. By the way, how is it going?" he asked.

"Fairly well. The C-Square should be working by tomorrow," he said, happy that Link had gotten off the subject. "Wendy's going to love it-"

"HA!"

"LINK!"

Wendy and BOB looked over to the two of them at the sound of Dr C's protests. They couldn't help but laugh. "What do you think they're talking about, anyway?" Wendy asked in between giggles.

"I don't know. Hey, did you wanna go ask?" Before she could say anything, BOB started sliming his way over to the fighting friends. But Wendy had enough sense to stop him before things got out of hand. Besides, she hated to be an eavesdropper.

"Woah, woah , woah, just wait a minute. They might be... planning something. Like a party!" she said, nodding her head. BOB turned around, a wide smile embedded in his goop.

"Ooh! That would be awesome! Hey, do you think we'll be invited?" he said, his voice getting a little worried.

Wendy chuckled. "I don't know about me, but I'm sure _you'll_ be on the VIP list, BOB."

"YEAH!" he yelled excitedly. "But don't worry Wendy, you can be my plus-one. I promise!"

Wendy laughed, holding her sides together. BOB always knew how to get her. He was a sweetheart, and the coolest ham-eating-blob that she'd ever met in her life. "Thanks, BOB, that would be really neat."

For a few seconds they stayed quiet, watching the mouths of Dr C and Link move up and down but not hearing anything they were saying. But then BOB managed to ask the question that had been bugging him ever since Link mentioned the word.

"Wendy... what's a crush?"

Wendy blinked, completely taken back by the sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"You know, a thing, the hots... a crush!"

"Oh..." Wendy didn't really know how to reply. "I don't think there's a definition for it... but from past experiences all the way back in high school, it's when you really admire someone for being who they are. And then, hopefully, that crush develops into love."

"Oh... cool!" he replied, looking from her back to Dr C and Link. Another minute of silence, and then... "Wendy... does Dr C have a crush on you?"

The zombie's face slowly flushed red at the thought. "Um... no. No, he doesn't."

"Okay, just let me go tell Link that. LINK!" BOB yelled across the room. Wendy yelped and slapped her hand over BOB's humungous mouth.

"Link, please just drop the subject! I just don't want Wendy thinking the false!" the doctor pushed. They both looked over at the girl, who was desperately trying to grab her hand back, but failing at the same time. In fact, as she tried pressing one of her feet against the squishy mass that was BOB, her entire leg sunk inside him. And when she tried to pull away, it ripped from the socket.

"FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!" she screamed, falling backward. Her head hit the floor, and her eye literally flew from her socket and up above her head. Everyone watched as it flew at least seven feet into the air, and fell inside her open mouth.

BOB and Link applauded like crazy, thinking that it was a brilliant trick. Dr C was trying his hardest not to laugh, but doing a terrible job at it. Wendy quickly sat up, leaning her weight on her still-together arm, and choked on the eyeball. What made it worse for her was that she could see the inside of her system. It was all dark and fleshy and...

"Oh I think I'm gonna be sick..." she muttered between coughs. She spat out the eyeball into her hand and pushed it back into her socket. "And now, for the rest of me..."

BOB smiled and spat out the limbs, getting the message from her evil glare quite clearly. But just as she was starting to put herself together again, the king's man stopped her.

"Uh, Wendy..." Link said, grabbing her leg before she could attach it. "Have you ever tried playing golf?"

Wendy stared at him blankly, not getting what he was at, but answering all the same. "Uh... only mini-golf. And I don't think that's the same thing."

"Oh don't worry, you'll learn _real _fast."

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**CrazyA: **If anyone wants to know what Insectosaurus is saying, I'll give an expalantion. Also, because some people have been asking, YES. Wendy and Susan's stories will be intertwining and the zombie will have her equal part in the movie. READ AND REVIEW!!


	8. Golf, Guilt and Lovers

**CrazyA: **TA-DA!! I'm still existing, don't panic.

**Dr C: **Hooray. _*Oh how he loves sarcasm*_

**CrazyA: **Guys, I would never EVER ditch this story!! I've just had a whole heap of stories going on at once... bleaugh. But still, don't quit your subscriptions or do anything drastic just because I haven't updated in a while. And let me tell you, thsi chappie was worth the wait!

**Dr C: **Read and review!

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8. Golf, Guilt and Lovers

_**'Together in all these memories I see your smile... All of the memories I hold dear, darling you know I'll love you til the end of time...'- **__Memories, _Within Temptation

"When you said 'golf'... I never expected this."

Wendy's head, minus one eye, was sitting on the far side of the room. Link had one of her legs swung over his shoulder, while BOB had the other carefully aimed at his eye (which was being balanced on one of Dr C's chewed-up pencils.) Link was winning, since he could use both eyes, and Dr C was working on the other side of the room.

"Gentlemen, please. I'm sure that Wendy isn't entirely comfortable with this situation," he said from the table, a screwdriver embedded in the C-Square.

Wendy smiled, rolling her eye loosely in her socket until it turned to the scientist. "It's okay, doc. I'll just whoop them later when my legs are back in their sockets. In fact, want to join in? It's a more relaxing way to load off the stress without having to do that stupid training course."

Dr C sat there, silently working on his project. He put down the screwdriver, a small smile on his face and looked over at Wendy's head from the corner of his eye. "Seriously, go for it. Just use one of my arms."

He stood up, tucked in his chair, packed away his toolbox, and walked over to Wendy's torso that sat up against the wall. It tore off her right arm and threw it over to him, which he caught skilfully. She sucked in a breath of air, building up pressure behind her eye until it popped out of her head and started rolling along the floor to his feet.

"Uh... ew," BOB said, pointing at the rolling sphere. "That is _seriously _weird..."

"Just hurry up and swing," Link muttered impatiently. Wendy stretched her mouth as wide as she could as he swung, his eye flying right through the air and landing on Insectosaurus' fuzzy skull. He let out a roar, which made Link smile. "You heard the guy. You're going to have to shoot from up there."

"Aw... do I have to?" BOB whined. His blinking organ could see that he was high up, and he knew that he was atop of Insectosaurus because he could feel the fuzzy carpet-like mass he was balanced on.

"Sorry BOB, but it's the rules," Dr C said with a sigh. He brushed the eye against his breast-pocket, cleaning it of dirt, which gave Wendy a head-ache.

"Whoever's going that, quit it. All I can see is a blur of white..."

"Oh!" He instantly stopped, nearly dropping the valuable part of her. "I-I'm sorry."

"Meh, I'm fine," Wendy said, smiling at him. "At least you're not as bad as Link..."

"What? What did I do?!" he exclaimed, looking up from his swing-stance.

"Nothing," Wendy said sarcastically. "Except for maybe when you used my eyes as juggling balls, but apart from that, nothing at all."

"Heh, that _was _pretty funny..." BOB said from atop of Insectosaurus.

Wendy tried glaring at him, but it didn't work if her eyes were in two different spots. "Just swing, fish-boy..."

Link chuckled. "Oh, you're so cute when you're mad..." he teased. He swung, and the eyeball rolled along the floor and went straight for Wendy's mouth. She smirked and blew it away, sending it to the other side of the room. "Hey! Why'd you-"

"Link, you should know better than to mess with the equipment..." she interrupted, smirking merrily. Dr C stifled a laugh. Wendy heard, swivelling her eye so it looked up at him. "Your turn, doc."

He smiled and carefully placed her eye on the floor with the utmost care. Wendy smiled. Link and BOB didn't really have the same care that he had... Wendy locked her wrist, just as she had with her ankles for the other two monsters, and he swung. Her pure white orb rolled along the floor, stopping a few feet away from her head.

BOB wolf-whistled. "Smooth moves, Doctor Cockroach!"

Link shrugged, swinging Wendy's leg over his shoulder. "Just because he's your boyfriend doesn't mean you let him win..."

Wendy blinked, trying her best to turn her head in his direction. "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing..." he said, covering up the obvious truth.

Just as Wendy was about to push further questions, one of the metal doors opened to reveal General Monger, looking both confused and agitated at the same time. He looked from one monster to the other, getting more and more confused when he realised that the golf-clubs they used were, in fact, one of his monsters. "What in the name of Ridley Scott is going on in here?"

Everyone looked over to him, giving blank stares back. "We're playing mini-golf!" BOB said cheerily. "Want to join?"

All the monsters stared at him expectedly, each face bright and even eager. At first, Monger was about to protest. These were hideous monsters that expected him to play a childish game made up by a bunch of nerds. But then, before he even knew what he was doing, he nodded.

"Why not? Anyone got a spare ball?"

Dr C smiled and took out his notebook, tearing out a piece of paper and tightly scrunching it up into a ball. "I'm afraid it's not effective... but it'll do..." He threw it to the general, who caught it in one hand as he tore off Wendy's last limb in one swift move.

"Back in '75 they called me the Golfinator," he bragged. Wendy snickered and opened up her mouth, not expecting anything major. Those who bragged were never that good a player. But he let out a massive swing, sending the ball flying. Wendy gasped as the ball hit the back of her mouth, spitting it out quick-sharp on instinct.

Everyone broke out into applause, and even Wendy managed to pat him on the back. "Nice job, Monger!" Link congratulated.

"An excellent shot!" praised Dr C.

"Aww... sorry General! I guess you're the loser!" BOB yelled from the top of Insectosaurus.

"No, BOB! Monger won!" Wendy called back. She faced Monger again, smiling cheerfully. "Congrats!"

Monger smiled back. "Thanks, little lady. Fellas, it's just about twelve. You all ready for lunch?"

BOB jumped from the top of Insectosaurus, landing on the floor in one solid, wobbling piece. "Sure am!" Link followed him over to the table, sitting down and drooling over the pile of fish as the giant blue mass started to dissolve his ham.

But the brain and the garbage were untouched.

Wendy tried rolling her skull over to her torso, which was attempting to put her right leg in her left socket. But alas, her tries didn't work. She blindly started putting herself back together again, only just managing to get her legs in place. Now where was that other arm?

"Need a hand?" a British accent asked. Wendy didn't need eyes to know it was Doctor Cockroach.

"Actually, an arm..." she said with a smile. "But some help _would _be nice..." He smiled back, even though she couldn't see him, and carefully picked up her head, walking her over to the rest of the girl's body and clicking it back into place with her spine.

"Thanks," she said, twisting her neck side to side and smiling at the cracks and creaks it made. She felt his smooth hands hold something else of hers, she imagined being her eyes, and sure enough she could see only the dark pink close-up of a hand. She heard his light footsteps come nearer and felt his presence come before her, kneeling down on the floor so that he looked into her eye-sockets. And carefully, so very carefully, he poked the orbs back into place.

"There we go," he said, watching her blink several times so that her eyes could adjust. "That should make things easier..."

Wendy blinked things into focus, taken back when she saw the doctor so close to her. "Thanks..." she managed to say. "I'll take it from here."

He gave a final smile and scurried off to the table, starting to feast on the pile of trash. Wendy finally found her arm and clicked it back into place, running over to the guys at last and starting the daily brain-feasting ritual that the others were getting used to.

"So General, what brings you down here today?" she asked, swallowing a mouthful of brain at the same time.

He shrugged his shoulders. "No real reason, just wanted to see how you were all feeling."

Wendy blinked. This was very unlike him. When she had first met the General, he was a real hard-ass. But now... he seemed friendlier. "I think we're pretty cool... what about you? How have you been?"

Monger blinked. No one really bothered to ask about his personal life. "Um... I'm sure you're not interested..."

"Sure we are, General!" Link said in all honesty. "C'mon, what's been happening?"

Monger smiled, and BOB could swear that he saw the frosty old bastard blush. "I've got a date with a little lady tonight..."

Everyone stared blankly, jaw-dropped in amazement. There were so many things surprising about what he said that they had no idea where to start. Monger, the most hard-boiled egg in the nest, never mentioned a social life to them, let alone a girlfriend. But the wistful look in his eyes and the slight hint of embarrassment in his voice was enough for them to believe it.

"Congratulations," Dr C said cheerfully after realising how wide his jaw was open. "What's her name?"

"Peg Scott... the cutest little girl in Texas..." he said, dreaming off. "She makes me feel so alive and young again... I think she might just be the one for me..."

Wendy smiled, going off into her own wistful state. Everyone did. Link dreamt of the girls at Coco beach... BOB dreamt of his dream girl, with a jiggly attitude to match his own... and Dr C was dreaming of a girl he'd known a long, long time ago...

"You must be a lucky guy then," Link said at last, still in a daze. "You can go outside and meet new people while we're all stuck in here..."

"Well, we've got Wendy, don't we?" BOB said. "She's our own cutest girl in Texas, right?"

Link grinned. "You're right, BOB! Hey, Doc! Isn't Wendy a little cutie?" he said, grabbing Wendy around the throat and giving her a noogie despite the protests.

Dr C gave a quick glare at Link before looking to the screaming zombie, clearing his throat and sitting up straight in an attempt to be polite about the issue. "I must admit, Wendy, you are-"

"Link, knock it off!" she interrupted, not noticing that he had an answer for her. "Stop trying to push us together like some kind of matchmaker! Besides, I'm sure that Doctor Cockroach has a girl back home!"

At that point, everyone went quiet and turned around to the scientist expectedly. No one had ever, in the history of _ever_, asked Dr C about his past life. He looked from face to face, cleared his throat once more and answered.

"I did."

The blob that was BOB's bottom jaw dropped to the ground. Link's eyes went huge, and one dropped from Wendy's socket. Monger, however, was the first to speak. "What was she like?"

Dr C smiled at the memory and looked down at his pile of garbage, not really able to talk. "She was... beautiful. A lab assistant... but... she died just a few days after I proposed to her, actually..."

"You had a fiancé?" Wendy asked, scooching forward in her seat so that she could get closer to him. She had never seen him so sad before...

"EW!" BOB screamed. "Doc's gay!"

"No, BOB! He was going to marry her!!" Link yelled back.

Dr C ignored the last two interruptions but looked over to Wendy, giving a slight smile. "Yes... she died of a blood disease... She didn't tell anyone about it... I guess she didn't want anyone to worry. She was trying to find a cure in her spare time, but... I guess it was too late..." He drifted off and looked away from the group, not wanting them to see the moistness of his eyes.

But Wendy still saw. Her own eyes were damp at the thought of one man losing everything that was precious to him. His respect, his looks, and now his beloved. She stretched across the table and clasped his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry..." she said quietly. "I shouldn't have asked..."

He looked over to her, his golden-brown eyes shiny from tears. He gave a slight smile and squeezed her hand. "It's okay... I'm fine."

Monger spoke up from the silence of the room. "Doctor Cockroach... if you need some time... you can be excused."

Dr C stood up at once and smiled, though his eyes were still damp. "Thankyou, General... I'll see you some other time, gentlemen... and Wendy..." With that, he left, too depressed to even go back for his toolbox, and ignored the eyes that stared after him as the metal doors clamped shut.

Wendy couldn't speak, or move, or even look at anyone in the room. She blamed herself for bringing up the past... it was best forgotten anyway. She stared at her empty bowl and sighed, running a fingertip through the grease left from her organ. She felt so guilty... and empty...like part of her heart had been torn open and was trying to do the same to all her other organs.

"Wow..." BOB finally said. "I've never seen Doctor Cockroach so sad before... he must've really liked her..."

"He _loved _her, BOB..." Link replied glumly. He also felt a twinge of guilt inside him... after all, he had been trying to push the Doc onto Wendy when this whole time he was still mourning over his previous girl... "All these years and we didn't ask _once_..."

"How dumb were we?" BOB asked the six of them. Insectosaurus let out a wail, on the brink of tears himself. Even Monger looked hurt, and he was about as emotional as a Greek statue.

"God, I'm so _stupid_..." Wendy muttered, running her fingers through her hair and leaning back in her chair. "I _never _should've mentioned _anything_... he probably hates me..."

Monger shook his head. "Of course not. If anything, he'll like you more."

Insectosaurus let out a roar in agreement. Link turned around and nodded, a small smile coming back at last. "He's right. You're the only person out of the five of us who's _ever _asked _anyone _in here about their life before... _this._ Not to mention that you were the only one of us to comfort him."

Wendy looked from one face to another, a smile coming back to her face also. "You're serious?"

Monger nodded, joining in on the pleasant-expression-club. "Plus, maybe this talk has opened his eyes a little... Maybe he knows that he's got to move on..."

"Maybe with Wendy?" BOB said enthusiastically, cheering up instantly. Wendy shook her head, but smiled just as cheerfully.

"Guys, just because I'm the only monster with breasts does _not _make me the one and only for Doctor C..." she said sarcastically. But her casual tone faded as she thought back to the subject. "But before I screw anything else up, I might as well pry a little more." She turned to Link first, crossing her legs in a very news-reporter-fashion. "So tell me, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Or a boyfriend..." Monger muttered. Everyone turned to him, wide-eyed blinking. "What? It's a possibility one of the fellas here is a fruit! Heck, I even thought our Doc might've been on the Broadway side of life..."

"Well guess what buddy, I've had neither..." Link interrupted. "Sure, there were a few _girls _on Coco Beach that I admired, but that was it. But...I'm _pretty _sure any girl would be happy to go on a date with the Link-ster."

"Who's the Link-ster?" BOB asked. Before Link could answer, Wendy interrupted quickly with the same question. "Uh... do perverted freaks count?"

Wendy blinked. "You had a pervert?" She could never imagine someone using a pair of binoculars to spy on a giant blue mass of goo stripping off for a shower.

"Yeah!" he said, slightly hurt that she didn't know. "Jake was such a jerk! He dug me up when I was dead and tried to make out with my corpse... whatever _that _means..."

"Uh... that was _me, _BOB. Jake was _my _pervert," she replied, not wanting to remember that very unpleasant experience. "But let me tell you one thing, you can have him." She looked up from BOB to the giant orange fuzz-ball that was Insectosaurus. "What about you, little guy? Ever had a girlfriend?"

He let out a roar for a reply.

Link blinked, his jaw dropping even further than it had when Monger burst _his _news. Wendy stared at him, more confused than ever, and finally cleared her throat. "What is it?"

"He hasn't had a girlfriend..."

"So what?" BOB asked. "Why are you getting all freaky?"

"He's had a boyfriend instead..."

"OKAY, I AM OUTTA HERE!" the zombie declared. "Before anything gets weirder than normal, I'm going back to my room!" She stood up and pushed her chair in, giving a last wave to the people she called her friends and turning around. But something out of the corner of her eye grabbed her attention...

...Dr C's toolbox.

She picked it up carefully, surprised at the weight of it, and carried it in her arms to her door. "I'm going to have to talk to him _some _time or another..." she muttered as the doors opened to her room. Just as the doors were starting to close, she quickly ducked her head around to get one last sarcastic comment in.

"Monger! Good luck on the date! God knows you're gonna need it!!" she yelled across the room, giving a cheesy thumbs-up to match her attitude.

Monger smirked and did something he thought he'd never do as a warden for a bunch of freaks to society: he flipped her the birdie. Wendy laughed and jumped back inside her room before the doors shut around her neck, careful not to drop anything from Dr C's box.

She took a deep gulp, swallowed back her regret, and walked towards the wall of her cell. "I'll be needing a little luck too, Mr G..." she muttered. She balanced the toolbox in one arm and knocked loudly on the metal of the wall. "Okay, here goes..."

The wall slid open, revealing the clean and perfect white space that was Dr C's room. He was looking around in the room for something important of his, Wendy knew that much from the panicked look on his face. But she was too nervous to say anything... she was always bad with apologies... they were always so hideously _awkward_.

"I could swear I had it with me..." he muttered, looking through a pile of blue and yellow Lego. "Unless I left it out with the others... But I'll look so foolish going back for it... but I need it done by tomorrow for Wendy... damn it!" he swore to himself, standing up and leaving that one pile for now. Just as he was about to search through another pile of spare parts and scrap materials, he noticed Wendy out of the corner of his wide eyes. "Oh! Um... hello there..." he said nervously and awkwardly.

Wendy giggled, but tried to hide it back. He was always so... _sweet _whenever he tried to be casual. "Hi..." she replied at a similar level of awkward. "Were you looking for this?" she asked, holding out the toolbox.

The scientist's eyes widened at the sight of it, and a smile of relief came to his face. "Thankyou!" he said, scurrying over at top-speed. He took it off her and held it in his own arms, making sure that everything was in there. "I was getting worried..."

And so the awkwardness began. Wendy somehow managed to summon up the courage to talk first, and started to ramble away. "I'm sorry... I really shouldn't have... It wasn't any of my business and I should have kept my nose out of it-"

"-don't be sorry!" he interrupted before she could make herself feel any worse. "I mean... you have nothing to be sorry for." He gave a reassuring smile, even though his eyes were ever-so-slightly-bloodshot.

Wendy smiled back anyway, pleased to know that this wasn't going to be as hard as she had imagined it to be. "It's just that... you looked so sad, I couldn't help but feel awful and-"

"-my dear, I'm fine. You seem to be taking this worse than I am!" he said, chuckling at her worried expression. "I merely needed a moment to collect myself, that's all. And..._I'm _sorry that _you're _sorry."

Wendy laughed. "You really _are _a Mad Hatter, aren't you?" she said, her attitude back to normal. "So, just checking for the hundredth time, you're alright? You're not angry or anything?"

"And for the hundredth time, I'm fine and quite content..." he answered calmly. Wendy smiled, gave a slight wave, and started walking back to her own room. Just as she was turning around, Dr C realised something that he still had to tell Wendy. Something that he never got to say earlier that day...

"Wendy I-"

But the walls closed up again, cutting him off for the second time that day. But he still continued anyway, despite the fact that there was a thick layer of metal between the two.

"Wendy... you are _not_ cute... you're charming... witty... and a true friend..." he said with a sigh. "And most of all... you are... beautiful. Maybe not the type of beautiful you _think _you should be... but that doesn't mean you're not..." He looked up at the towering white wall before walking off, smiling at the memory of her laugh. "And you're definitely one of the funniest of girls I've met in my lifetime..."

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**CrazyA: **ISN'T IT TRAGIC!!! Bwaaaahhh.... _*goes off to cry in corner* _Sniffle... please review...


	9. A Dance, My Dear?

**CrazyA: **Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo duckies!!

**Dr C: **It feels so good to be back!

**CrazyA: **Guys, if you thought that last chapter was kinda fluffy, get a load of THIS!! THIS IS THE MOST EPIC-FLUFF CHAPTER I'VE PROBABLY EVER WRITTEN EVER!!

**Dr C: **So please review before she goes insane and kills us all... Enjoy!

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****9. A Dance, My Dear?  
**'_**...honey is sweet but not as sweet as you...'- **__Roses are Red, _Aqua

Wendy couldn't dream very easily that night...

This time, her dream was Cinderella-themed, which she found quite ironic since she was _Zomberella_. But instead of her rotting, peeling, radioactive form, she was her normal self. She had her pale skin back as well as her long brown locks. Except, since this was dream-land, her mouse-brown rat's-nest was combed and a gorgeous chocolate-brown. Her blue eyes were outlined with dark mascara, making them the main focus of her face, and her lips had similar red gloss to when she was in her coffin. She was dressed in a beautiful blue gown, similar to the Disney-flick she watched as a child, and had her hair up in the same fashion as Cindy's.

She looked around the large, beautifully decorated hall she was in, and took in the golden statues and staircases. A giant chandelier, which looked like something from Phantom of the Opera, was high above her head and shimmering lights across the room. She could hear violins in the background, as well as other instruments that she kept forgetting the names of, and many masked dancers were spinning around her. She couldn't make out any faces, as they were all just a blur of colours to her, but she still felt like she knew the people there. There was a warm and magical feeling in the air, and she couldn't stop smiling at the sight of this beautiful world.

"I haven't seen your face around here before," she heard a voice behind her say. She turned around and came face-to-face with the Prince Charming of her story. Dr Cockroach stood there, dressed in a royal blue uniform and sword, with his British accent suiting his costume perfectly.

Wendy bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. This was too good, even for a dream. "I-I'm new around here..." she said at last, trying not to look like a complete twat. Dr C smiled and bowed over, holding out his hand as an invitation for a waltz. Wendy grinned and accepted, taking his hand in hers as he led her across the floor, the two slowly waltzing together in perfect time.

Wendy blinked and looked around, but she couldn't see her other friends in sight. BOB, Insectosaurus Link, even General Monger, were usually in her dreams... but where were they now? Why was it just the two of them? Dr C noticed her worried expression and ducked his head, looking her in the eye. "Are you alright?" he asked, true compassion in his eyes.

She blinked once more and smiled. Although they weren't there, it was still a wonderful dream... she didn't want him to worry. "I'm fine," she answered, moving her hand up his shoulder as his own moved onto her waist. "I just thought I saw someone, that's all."

They continued their dance, the sound of people's laughter just white noise now. This was so... dare she say it, _romantic. _Dreams hardly every treated her this nicely, and it was a wonder why they only started now. And why was it just herself and the doctor? As beautiful as this was, she couldn't help wondering why she was dreaming of him all of a sudden...

But one look from his beautifully golden eyes was all she needed. She didn't even see his antennae, or the fact that his eyes were as big as dinner plates, she could see his was still human. He was so sweet, so kind...

...and the clock struck twelve.

All the dancers around them stopped, and the band slowly came to a silence. Dr C still kept his hold on Wendy, as she did on him, but she was looking around her now and seeing the major flaw with her fellow dancers.

They had no eyes. Just smirking lips painted on like mannequins as they stared blankly at them.

Wendy gulped and looked down at her arm, gasping at what she saw. A torn scratch, one she had gained from the explosion, appeared on her skin... and she could feel several others beginning to emerge. She looked up to the eyes of her prince and shook her head. "I have to go," was all she said as she attempted to tear away from his arms. "Thank you for everything but I-"

He wouldn't let go. His grip tightened around her waist as he pulled her closer to him, his fingers digging into the flesh of her hand. Wendy gasped in pain and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to wake up before everything led from bad to worse. She tried tearing apart from him, but his vice-like grip remained. "Let go of me, please..." she said as strongly and politely as she could manage. She opened her eyes and gasped at the familiar face she saw.

"Jake?!?" she yelped, her jaw open wide in shock. Without speaking, he clamped it shut with his mouth, and Wendy was greeted with a familiar, disgusting, _tongue_. She pushed away from him at last, slapping him across the cheek, but she still felt this squirming feeling inside her mouth. She coughed and spat, trying to rid whatever was still inside her, and screamed at the sight of fifty-to-sixty maggots squirming on the marble floor.

"Wendy?" she heard Dr C's voice coming from somewhere, but she couldn't see her hero anywhere. His voice echoed around the hall, and her searching white eyes finally rested upon Jake, who was smirking more than the mannequins were. Wendy couldn't stand the sight of his gelled-back hair again, especially after that lousy night in her grave.

"Where is he?! Bring him back!" she ordered, screaming on the top of her lungs. But more maggots spilled from her lips, ands she could feel some pushing back down her throat in a squelching, squirming mess.

"Wendy, are you alright?" the British voice came from Jake's mouth, but the worried tone didn't suit his gleaming eyes. Wendy shook her head and screamed, taking a few steps backward. She turned around and bolted, but was tripping in her glass heels. She groaned and pinched one off her foot, throwing it at her perverted nightmare. It hit him in the forehead, but he kept walking towards her, his pace increasing in speed. "Wendy, wake up!" Dr C's voice came from him.

"SHUT UP!!" she screamed at him, kicking off the other high-heel and running for her life past the dancers. Two girls in white powdered wigs and ruffled dresses caught her by her green-tinted arms, holding her tightly as she kicked and screamed. "Let go of me!!!"

"Wendy, what's wrong?" came the voice once more. "Wake up already!"

"NO! STOP IT!!!"

"WENDY!!"

"HELP M-"

She was cut short by a sudden hand across her cheek. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up in her bed, her sheets damped with sweat and tossed all around her. She looked down at her arms, the cuts still there in her skin and her striped sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She checked her pulse, actually smiling when she didn't feel anything. She was back. No more Jake. No more dancing. No more high-heels.

"Wendy, are you alright?!" came a familiar voice. She looked to the side of her, smiling at the familiar sight of Doctor Cockroach sitting beside her. She gave a crooked smile to him, laughing with relief. Thank God it was just a dream.

"I-I'm fine..." she said, panting heavily. "Never better..."

"I am _so _sorry for hitting you, but from the way you were screaming I couldn't think of anything else to do-"

"I'm fine, Doctor..." she said, her smile back to normal. "And thank you for waking me up... I was on the verge of insanity back there... I never really liked _Cinderella, _anyway."

Dr C chuckled and stood back up, holding out a hand. Wendy stared at, thinking that dreams really _could _come true, and held onto it tightly as he pulled her off her bed. Wait a minute. Bed. Bed_room_. "Why are you in my room?" she asked, not angry at him... just confused.

"Well, I wanted to show you something, but I thought you were still asleep..." he said, still holding onto her hand. "But I heard you talking, and I thought you must have been up... But you might have been having a horrible nightmare, for you were sweating like a pig when I found you."

Wendy smiled at him and gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "I'm fine now... what did you want to show me?"

Dr C got the wrong message from her comfort and let go of her hand, apologising quickly before dashing off through the open wall-doors and to his toy-box. "Close your eyes!" he said as she attempted to follow him.

"Okay, okay..." she muttered, but still with a smile on her face. She could still feel his hand as she clenched her fist. She closed her eyes quickly, not even thinking about peeking, and stood as still as she could. A thought suddenly went through her head and she gave a squeal. "Is it my stereo? You fixed it!!"

Dr C gulped and gave a nervous laugh, clearing his throat and standing up straight with the device hidden behind his back. "Um... yes and no..."

Wendy blinked and opened her eyes. Her dad had used a similar tone of voice when her cat had died. "'Yes and no?'" she asked. Dr C walked over to her, her hands still behind his back, and tried his best to keep his smile from looking worried.

"Here it is!"

Wendy could only blink at what she saw. It was a bit bigger than the palm of his hand, and was made from scrap pieces of metal, a few paper-clips, and several hanging wires of different colours. It had a small screen that took up half of the device and looked as if it was made from... a beer-bottle?.. The edges of the screen was glued down with play-dough, chewed-gum and blu-tak, and the overall look was rather messy.

"This... is my stereo?" she asked, looking him in the eye with a completely screwed up face. "Are you sure it-"

"Of course it works! Look, I'll show you!" he said, coming up by her side, nearly pressing the device into her face. "The C-Square, stupid name, I know, is even _better _than your stereo!"

"But... where do the CDs go?" she asked, more confused than ever.

"Wendy, I know things look bad right now, and I know that it was _horrible _of me to rip apart your stereo but-" He cut himself short, shaking his head in frustration. It all sounded so stupid. Instead, he twisted her around by the arm and looked her in the eye, utter seriousness on her face. "Wendy, just trust me."

Wendy blinked and stared back at him, no idea what to say or do by this point. "I..." she started, staring into his precious, golden eyes...

_Yes you do, _she said inside her mind. _You'd trust him if he had gone off his rocker. You'd trust him if the whole world had turned on him. You would trust him because you-_

"So how does it work?" she asked, not even daring to start thinking this all over. "I mean, if it doesn't use CDs... then...?"

"It's all a computer system, you see," he explained, pointed to what appeared to be a pile of pizza boxes. "But more about that later, just put this in your ear, okay?" He handed over one of the wires, which turned out to be some kind of headphone, and she carefully put it in her ear as he traced a thumb around a circle in the middle of the C-Square.

Suddenly, a menu came onscreen with several different options: 'Playlists,' 'Artists', and 'Albums'. He clicked on 'Artists', and at one lonely band came onscreen, since he only had the one CD to use: 'Aqua.'

"What is thi-"

"Look! Look!" he giggled, pressing a button in the middle of the circle, and revealing all their songs. 'My Oh My' was listed, along with 'Roses are Red.' "Now, prepare for the greatest of greatest of... well, the greatest." He pressed the centre button once more, and electro-pop sound filled Wendy's mind.

_Roses are red and violets are blue, honey is sweet but not as sweet as you..._

"No way!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide in fascination. "This... This is-"

"I know, they're a brilliant band, aren't they?"

"No! Well, yeah, of course, but... Doctor, haven't you realized how... _amazing _this is?! You've invented the best thing in... in _forever_!" she said, laughing and shaking the C-Square in his face. "This is..."

He looked at her up and down, staring at her bright, white eyes that were practically sparkling with joy. She was unable to speak, completely mesmerized by the technology in her hands. She looked so happy... he had never seen her like this. And he was the source of her joy. She didn't even care about the fact that her stereo was now non-existent. This was going perfectly. But, just to add to the perfection...

He turned up the music all the way, so that both of them could hear without the headphones. He bowed over formally, making Wendy blush (which was close to impossible since she had hardly any blood to blush with), and took her hand in his once more. "Care to dance?"

Wendy's blush practically burnt her, and she was feeling a massive wave of déjà-vu. But she accepted his hand, yelping and grinning as he spun her around at lightning-speed. _Dreams do come true dreams do come true dreams do come true..._

_Sweet from the flowers, honey from the bees. I've got a feeling I'm ready to release... Roses are red and violets are blue, honey is sweet but not as sweet as you._

"Anyone realise how these lyrics don't make sense?" she asked.

"That's just the beauty of it though, isn't it?" he replied, pulling her up from the floor in one swift movement and into his arms. He twirled her in a fast circle, her hair flying and between his legs, pulling her out the other side flawlessly. Wendy stumbled on her feet, giggling at the sudden rush to her head, and gave a smile.

"Since when were _you _a dancer?" she asked, watching as he spun on the floor in a blur and not even getting his antennae tangled together.

"Wendy, my _degree _is in dancing," he said with a smile, jumping to his feet and grabbing her hand. "Besides, I've done better." Wendy raised an eyebrow, wondering what his 'better' was, before he took her by the hand once more and moved her across the floor. "And what to do you mean by 'since when'?"

"Well... you just never seemed like the dancing type," she said honestly. "Especially not the DDR-dancing type..." In her mind, he was the ballroom type... and if he was _really _passionate: tango. But DDR just never crossed her mind.

Until now.

"Do _you_ play DDR?" he asked her, moving his feet as if he was limited to the one square. Backwards, forwards, right and left, just like he was following instructions on a screen.

"I used to," she said. "But from the way _you're _dancing, I'm guessing you invented the damn thing." He laughed, and the two of them danced opposite each other in perfect timing and complete synchronisation. It was like they rehearsed it.

_Dum di da di da, dum di da di da, dum di da di da. The only thing he said was: dum di da di da, dum di da di da, dum di da di da and roses are red!_

Meanwhile, BOB was trying to listen in on them from the other side of Dr C's white metal walls. He pressed his form against the wall, but could only hear the loud electro-pop beat. "Well?!? What are they doing?!" Link asked from his room.

"I don't know!" he replied. "I can only hear the doc's music... it's pretty catchy, actually!"

"BOB! Focus on the two lovies!"

"Hey, don't you feel bad about pushing the two together after yesterday's awkwardness?"

"Well who cares about that now?!? I mean, I'm not pushing them together: I'm just trying to see how they're going!"

"Don't have to yell, you know..." BOB muttered, even though Link wouldn't be able to hear him. "Besides, I still think that Wendy's gay, so ha."

"BOB... do you even know what you're talking about?" Link groaned, his head sliding down the wall in exhaustion.

_Come with me baby, please fulfil my wish. Show it to me truly, show me with a kiss. Roses are red and violets are blue, honey is sweet but not as sweet as you!_

"So how long have you been dancing for?" Wendy asked as he spun her around and away from him, still holding onto her hand, before spinning her back like a yo-yo and into his arms. She blushed heavily at how close they were, but he was too into the music to notice.

"Nearly all my life," he replied. "But when I was a child it was mostly ballroom, waltz, etcetera, etcetera. But when I was sixteen, I went to an arcade with a few friends and found myself beating the high-scores on the DDR machine. I fell in love with that style ever since."

"I bet the girls all fancied you," Wendy added, making the doctor laugh. She loved it when he laughed, both his insane laugh and his polite English chuckle. It showed that he was enjoying whatever he was up to.

"W-Well, I guess..." he spluttered modestly. Wendy laughed with him. He was even sweeter when he was embarrassed. But that led her to another thought...

"What were you like before the accident?" she asked quietly. He slowly stopped his rapid steps, and his feet stopped fading into a blur until he stood still entirely, not moving a muscle in shock. Certainly wasn't expecting that.

"I was mainly just as I am now..." he said, going quiet at the memory. "Only human..."

Wendy bit her lip, noticing the bright sparkle he usually had in his eyes fading fast. She didn't want to upset him again, not after yesterday. She was such an idiot. _Why _did she insist on bringing up the past?

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her pink cheeks practically beetroot by this point, and rested her head on his shoulder. He blinked at the tender act, but relaxed his shoulders and hugged her back... and for once; he wasn't paying attention to the beat of the music... but the beat of his heart.

"Just because you're not normal, doesn't mean you're not human..." she whispered, her eyes filling with tears at the thought. "And just because you're different doesn't make you strange..." She was saying it for both of them now... not just the doctor. And she was so _thick _to only realise this now...

"What was your name back then?" she asked, curiosity taking over her. "I mean... you don't have to tell me, but-"

Before she could even pull apart from him, he answered in the ghost of a whisper beside her ear... saying the one word, and only word she needed from him. She closed her eyes, relaxed at the sound of his calm voice.

"It suits you..."

_Dum di da di da, dum di da di da, dum di da di da. The only thing you said was: dum di da di da, dum di da di da, dum di da di da. My roses are red!_

They stood there, motionless and completely still, as the song ended at last. 'My Oh My' started up, but Wendy was too distracted to notice. Her arms stayed tight around the neck of her dearest friend, and she wasn't going to let go until he realised just how human he actually was...

...or until Monger opened up the door...

..which was in five, four, three...

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**Dr C: **Aaaaannnnddd.... cue the sniffling fangirl

**CrazyA: **Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

**Dr C: **Of course. What's a chapter without the author bursting into tears and/or nose-bleeds?

**CrazyA: ***Sniffle* Oh, just a few important notes. It's more than likely that I'll be on hiatus while I wait patiently for the super-deluxe DVD to be released over here in Oz... But that won't be for about... three more chapters? Yeah, something like that... Also: I'm not giving too many details about Dr C's past, because I'm going to wait until I find official details from Dreamworks (if they decide to make a sequal or prequal or whatever to release more details, that is...) That way, no matter what happens in the MvA series, this story will still be slightly intact with it all and will work out no matter what they develop!!

**Dr C: **In short: she wants to make sure that her story will forever be okay.

**CrazyA: **But I'll bet you anything his real name is John... it just gives off a vibe, yanno? Anyway, please review!! I'm writing as fast as I can!!


	10. Whoever I Am

**CrazyA: **OH MY GOD. I feel horrible... I've posted hardly anything up here in AGES.... What's it been, a little less than two months?

**DrC: **Something along those lines...

**CrazyA: **URGH! I feel like a massive bitch now... aye aye aye... Well, to make it up to you guys, this is an EPIC chapter... I think... anyway, I hope you like it! Read and review!

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10. Whoever I Am

'_**I know there's something in the wake of your smile, I get a notion from the look in your eye...' – **__Listen to Your Heart, _DHT

...two, one.

"Monsters, look sharp!!" the general ordered. Doctor Cockroach and Wendy jumped quick-sharp from their embrace, however comforting it may be. She rubbed her eyes dry, nearly pushing them back into her skull, while he straightened out his lab-coat and attempted at hiding the C-Square behind his back, turning it off quick-sharp.

"My apologies for interrupting this hullaballoo, but we have to – Wait a minute, were you two canoodalling?" he asked slyly, pointing an accusing finger at them through the glass window of Dr C's room. The glass opened, and the air-conditioning from the humongous chamber beyond their walls hit them like a tsunami. However, the thought of the two of them 'canoodalling' was an even bigger hit.

"What? No, of course not!"

"Seriously?!? Is that all you guys are thinking about in this place?!"

"Wendy's wonderful, but _really_! General, we're not _that _close!"

"Oh, I guess that we're meant to be together because I have _breasts_!"

"Quiet down, you two!" Monger ordered. They shut up at once, their hands hidden behind their backs as if they were at a boot-camp and standing up as straight as a flag-pole. "I zoomed past your room, Zomberella, but couldn't see you in there. Then I realised that the only other place you'd be was with Doctor Cockroach here."

Wendy shrugged. "Of course. What did you want me for?"

Monger cleared his throat and stepped off the grey platform parked outside and into Dr C's room. "I need both of you. _All _of you."

It took roughly a minute for the thought to sink into Dr C's mind. "Oh great..." he muttered. Wendy looked up at him, confused by everything, and he gave an exhausted smile to her. "We're running the obstacle course again..."

She groaned and followed him onto the platform with General Monger. "Just as I thought all was well with the world, too..." she said sarcastically. Though she might have been joking around, she found that her legs were starting to shake beneath her with nerves. It had been ages since she last went through that death-trap... and she didn't really know if she was ready to go again. She still had those scars from before, and they were barely healing over...

...she couldn't do this.

She jumped at the sudden movement of the platform as it continued moving to BOB's window. Tightly folding her arms across her chest for support, she hid her face beneath her hair, looking down at the floor beneath her as she promised herself that it would all be okay.

Dr C looked down at her, his eyes filled with concern. He understood why she was so distressed, but he couldn't help but think that... even when completely and utterly terrified... she still looked so...

"Are you alright?" he asked suddenly as they stopped at BOB's window. She looked up at him, quickly nodded her head in a jerky fashion, and back down at her converse, the glass sliding open to reveal BOB throwing his favourite red ball at the wall like usual.

"BOB, get over here!" Monger called. The giant blue idiot dropped his ball and stared blankly at the wall, pointing at it with a shaking digit.

"A-Are you talking to me?" he asked in a whisper. Monger rolled his eyes in annoyance, but still watched as BOB slowly poked the wall over and over.

"BOB!"

"Don't yell at me!!" he screamed at the wall, sounding like a whiny teenage girl as he did so.

"BOB!! We're over here!" Monger yelled. BOB blinked and turned around, grinning at the sight of his friends.

"Hey guys! What's up in the for-shizzle?" he asked, jerking a peace-sign down to the floor. Wendy smiled, unable to laugh at that moment because of the panic slowly eating away at her. BOB saw her sad eyes and his smile faded. "What's wrong? Did your fiancé die?"

"That was _me_, BOB..." the cockroach replied, trying not to hit BOB over the head in frustration. But he looked down quickly at the girl before finally explaining it all in a whisper. "She's just worried about the course..."

"What course? The obstacle-course that we do all the time? The one Wendy failed last time and really cut herself up?" he said, not being too helpful with the current situation.

Wendy hugged herself tighter at the memory. "Yep. That one."

"Moving on!" Monger yelled at the three of them. The platform moved to the last room (since Insectosaurus wasn't able to use the course properly) which happened to be Link's. He was lifting weights with ease, his tank completely filled with salt water. Monger turned around and gave the signal to a watch-tower in the distance, where the people inside pressed a button and slowly drained the water from the tank. Link looked around, dropping the weights to the floor, as he realised that the water level was falling. He looked over to the window and grinned at the figures he saw, his grin fading when he noticed the melancholy expression on Wendy's face.

"What's with Wendy-girl?" he asked.

"Link, you're the star of our little course, aren't you?" Monger complimented. Link's grin came back at once, and he dusted his knuckles on his chest in triumph... until he realised what he was on about.

"It's that time already?" he muttered, the window sliding open. He shook off the last few drops of water off and trudged over to the platform, stepping on reluctantly. He looked over at Wendy, piecing it all together. "Hey, girl. You'll be alright, won't you?"

Wendy looked up at Link and gave a shy smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine..." she said half-heartedly.

"You _will_ be fine," Dr C assured her, the platform descending quickly to the training room. "You just need some help..." He clasped her hand, secretly passing her the C-Square as he did so. She smiled back at him, taking it off of him before Monger could see what she was holding.

"Thanks..." she replied, quickly hiding it in her pocket. But as they fell lower and lower, she felt that worry and panic eating away into deeper parts of her mind. The platform suddenly stopped at last, making everyone jump again, and the large grey wall before them opened up.

This was it.

The springs, triggers and traps opened up once more to reveal beds of pointed metal and giant silver mallets crushing against each other. Wendy gulped, her legs shaking horribly now, and prayed for the smallest angel of luck to fall on her and knock her unconscious. That way, she wouldn't have to do the course.

But she had to.

"Link!" Monger yelled. "You're up first!"

Link got himself ready at the start of the course, smirking at the obstacles with a sense of triumph. "Piece of cake!"

"Go Link!" Wendy managed to yell out.

"You can do it!" the doctor yelled beside her.  
"BOO! You suck!" BOB yelled enthusiastically. After an awkward silence when everyone wondered what the hell was wrong with him, BOB finally got what he had said. "Oh, right. GO LINK!"

The siren went, and Link sprang into action. He ran up and over the rising bed of needle, doing a somersault in the air as he landed. His friends went wild with applause as he ran and dodged the flying bricks of steel, sliding on his belly across the floor and underneath the bullets.

Wendy's eyes were wide with amazement as she watched him dodge, kick, and jump through the course at an amazing rate. She had never seen any of the monsters use their powers before. When BOB went through, he merely slimed his way through the field without a single scratch. The bricks practically bounced off of his jiggling mass and he was quickly able to dive over the top of the beds of nails. And as for Doctor Cockroach, he was something altogether different. She had never seen him use his insect powers before, so when she watched him crawl along the floor at an inhuman speed it was all completely new to her. And at the giant metal death-trap claws that Wendy was so fearful of, he merely jumped at the right time and landed perfectly on his feet. It must've been after all that dancing from the morning...

Wendy was the one cheering the loudest on the sidelines, for all of the monsters. But when Dr C walked back over, a modest and embarrassed smile on his face, she was practically screaming. "You were brilliant!" she exclaimed excitedly. She was completely over her fear now, and only impressed by the amazing feats they had performed. "You all were! I wish _I_ had super powers!"

Link blinked, surprised she didn't get it. "Did you just have a mental swap with BOB?"

"You have an incredible sprint on you, my dear," Dr C explained. "With a bit more training you can get it up to a record-breaking speed."

Wendy blinked, a huge smile on her face. "You really think I'm that fast? I always thought zombies were all..." She proved her point by lifting her arms in the air and widening her eyes, lurching forward slowly towards a freaked-out BOB. She stopped suddenly as his pupil shrank inside his one eye, but she couldn't help laughing at his expression. They had all mentioned before that she was fast... but _super_ fast? The sinking feeling that was once there had vanished completely by now and her ego was dimly glowing.

"Totally!" explained BOB. "You're faster than... than a _moose_!"

Wendy laughed. "Really? I've heard they're pretty fast."

"Zomberella, you're our last runner for the day!" Monger yelled, lowering her self-esteem level as she realised what she was about to attempt once more. "Best of luck to ya!"

Wendy bit her lip, but there was still a smile in her eyes. "I don't think super speed is going to help me get through this thing..."

Dr C smiled and grasped her by the shoulders, looking her in the eye with joy. "This is the perfect chance for you to use the C-Square!" he exclaimed. He pointed to the snapping death-trap of metal jaws and back to her pocket. "You can use it to find the beat of the jaws!"

Wendy's smile grew and she quickly pulled the device from her pocket at once. "Of course! Thankyou so much!!" She said, plugging the headphones into her ears excitedly. She quickly scanned through the songs, finally picking 'My Oh My' with the press of a button.

Monger watched as she pulled the strange-looking piece of technology from her pocket, but said nothing of it. He knew that the monsters wouldn't create something as vicious as a bomb, but he was still going to be cautious about the little gizmo. "Zomberella, you're up."

She gave a final wave to her friends before running over to the start of the course, this newly grown confidence going to be used to the limit. She rolled her shoulders and twisted her neck, loosening up before she began. If she was still alive, she would probably have her heart going a mile a minute. But she wasn't alive. And for one of the first times, she was actually happy about it. If she was alive, she wouldn't be here with the coolest people in the whole world. If she was alive, she would never have met Dr C. If she was alive, she wouldn't have the guts to do this course.

If she was alive, she wouldn't be Zomberella.

"GO!" Monger yelled, pressing the siren for her to start. At the same time, the electro-pop music began to play in her ears and she was on her feet, running straight for the rising and falling bed of needles.

_My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I. My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I... if you were my king._

She jumped over the pointed teeth, the run-up from before getting her a landing point just beyond the obstacle and wobbled on her feet at the landing. But she straightened her spine and pushed herself forward, continuing the run on to victory.

"Go Wendy!" Link cheered, waving his fist in the air at her.

"You're awesome!" BOB yelled, clapping his blobby hands together."You're doing wonders, my dear!" Dr C yelled with them, being drowned out by Link's wolf-whistling.

Even though she could barely hear him over the sounds of scraping metal, the C-Square's technology, and the other two monsters, Wendy was still finding herself with a blush.

_Little princess in a terrible mess, a kingdom alone with no love to confess. Dreams of a prince on a tall white horse, runs like a spirit by the castle wars._

With the thought of having a super-power still in her mind, she bolted past the flying metal bricks with ease, pausing at the end of the obstacle to look back on what she had just done with one simple word. "Woah..."

She turned around to face another flying obstacle of tranquilizer darts. From experience, she knew they were motion-censored and would only attack when they saw her go past. So she poked out her left eye and quickly threw it past the obstacle, the darts too distracted by the one eye to notice the rest of the zombie run past.

Dr C blinked, amazed at her intelligence. Thought it was easier to just make a prayer and run like crazy past the darts like everyone else, she managed to find an easier and less risky way of getting past. He knew that she was smart, but not _that_ smart. Maybe she was more than just a pretty face... especially since that face wasn't exactly 'pretty' pretty.

Wendy smiled, picking up her eye and placing it back in it's socket. Just a few more obstacles and she'd be done.

_If you were my king, I would be your queen. If you were my king, I would be your queen._

"Give me a 'W'!" yelled Link to BOB.

The gelatinous blob grinned and waved his hand in the air. "W!"

"Give me and 'E'!"

"E!" he and Dr C yelled, both of them waving their arms excitedly.

Link grinned. "Give me and 'N'!"

BOB's smile faded and his hands feel back to the rest of his blobby form. "I'm all out of 'N's..." he said sadly, his bottom lip trembling. But he quickly turned to the exciting scene and his grin came back instantly. "GO WENDY!!"

Dr C smiled, for once not interested in yelling at his foolish friend, and turned to the most intelligent person he'd been involved with in a long time. Link saw the proud smile on the doctor's face and grinned, slapping him around the shoulder. "You gotta admit, doc... she looks real good when she's running!"

They both turned to the sprinting girl in unison, and the scientist couldn't help but smile even wider. Wendy's own grin was obvious, despite the sweat on her concentrated brow as she jumped and ducked and swerved. She really looked happy... and his ego went larger when he realised that she was mouthing a few of the lyrics as she ran. "...yes..." he replied quietly, barely noticing that Link was standing beside him. "...She does, doesn't she?"

_Mystery deep in the royal heart, crying at night don't wanna be apart. Prince oh Prince, are you really sincere? That you one day are gonna disappear?_

Wendy couldn't believe she could smile this much while saving her own skin. Her cheeks were even starting to hurt. She had never felt so confident in her life! Hell, she laughed in the face of danger now!

Before the explosion of NANP, she was just Miss Summers: a _tour-guide _who had practically no future whatsoever. She had never left Nocturne once in her life, only going to the capital city (a few-dozen miles away) when she truly needed to. And now, here she was, running like crazy from mashing bricks and tranquilizer darts! And considering this, and her new appearance, _normal_!

She could barely remember what she originally looked like now... curlier hair... brown eyes...pale skin... but in her mind, it was just a drawing of a stranger. Someone she'd seen on a street-corner or in the corner of her eye. The girl she once was... her name was Wendy. She watched _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ and cooked instant-mac-and-cheese like her life depended on it. She dreamed of being more confident and sexy like her heroine, instead of plain and as ordinary as dish-water. But now, after an unfortunate accident that turned out to be a miracle for her, she was Zomberella. Enough said.

_My oh my... My oh my... My oh my... My oh My!_

"Just one more obstacle left, Zomberella!" Monger called out. He, with the rest of the men standing on the sidelines, was grinning and cheering until his voice went hoarse.

For once, Wendy's stomach didn't go sick at the sound of her monster-name. Nor did the organ crawl at the sight of the gnashing jaws of hungry metal teeth that claimed her stomach contents the last time she faced it. Instead, she paused lightly on her feet for one second, just to get her unnecessary breath back.

_1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2, _the beat whispered in her ears. She. Could. Do it.

She gave a courageous smirk at the jaws, watching them bite empty air for the last time, as she ran up to the obstacle at lightning speed. "In all meaning of the phrase... 'Bite me'..."

...and it didn't.

_My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I. My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I... if you were my king_

She leapt on '2', the teeth spread wide apart. For a single moment, she felt like she was flying above them all. As if her soul had left her body and she was now above the entire world. She felt so free and confident, as if everything that had happened to her before was nothing. And it _was _nothing. She could forget about the past, and stop grieving over her lost image. She was free.

... but still a little ungraceful.

She only just landed on the other side of the jaws, her feet sliding on the smooth metal floor and causing her to fall face-first. She crashed with a heavy 'thud' and an 'oof' on the ground, and gave a muttered swear-word under her breath before she yelled out to the others. "I'm okay!"

BOB screamed in fright, reminding the others of a twelve-year-old girl, and he quickly slimed his way over to Wendy. As she tried to stand on shaking legs, her wrapped his blobby arms around her in a tight embrace, slowly morphing her into his mass.

"Oh my God! She's hurt! Quick, get a vet!" he yelled to Link. Wendy laughed and pushed her way out of the giant blue squish, her clothes and skin now damp and smelling of ham.

"I'm _fine_, BOB!" she said, grinning wildly.

"Yeah, BOB, you gotta listen once in a while..." Link said, pushing him out of the way. He wrapped and arm around Wendy's shoulder and pulled her in close, giving her a quick noogie and ruffling up her hair. "Congrats, Z-girl!" he said as she quickly ducked her head out of the way. "Maybe someday you'll be a pro like you're old buddy Link!"

"Excuse me?" she snapped back, her eyebrow raised sarcastically. "I'm already on my way to knocking you down the ladder, fish-face!" she joked, slapping him a high-five.

Link chuckled, preparing a down-low-five. She was just about to hit his webbed palm when he pulled away. "You've still gotta get your speed up!"

"Fine, fine..." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Not by much though!" said Monger as he strode over beside them all. Wendy stood up straight, and her slack casual attitude around Link changed to a military level of alert and readiness. "Zomberella..." he said, as the monsters parted like the oceans and made room for him. And then the General did something no one ever expected him to do... under ANY circumstances.

He hugged her.

Sure, it was seriously awkward, but it was a hug. He reluctantly wrapped his arms around her tightly, and all Wendy could do was blink and hang her mouth open for flies. "I'm proud of you, girl..." he said as he released her quickly. Wendy bit her lips from laughing, but there was a beam as strong as sunshine on her face.

"Thanks, sir..." she replied, trying to keep his commando image intact.

He nodded and then turned to Link and BOB, who were standing there open-mouthed and stupefied. "It was a one-time thing, boys. So don't start calling me a hippy!"

Wendy laughed and watched them walk off together back to the platform, cheering and celebrating without her. But there was one person she had to talk to... for it was he who gave her a reason for doing the dangerously stupid course in the first place.

She smiled at the insectoid, unplugging the C-Square from her ears and handing it over. "I wouldn't have done it without you..." she said quietly.

Dr C smiled back at her, but shook his head. "It's always been _your_ stereo. And I'm sure you would've done a great job without my help."

Wendy gave a snort as she attempted to stifle laughter. "You're a sweet liar, Doctor..." she said, a slight blush on her skin. "But a very bad one, too..." She pocketed the music player and looked up into his eyes with a smile. "Thankyou..."

"...you're welcome..." he replied, a copy-cat blush on his face. They stood there in the silence of each other's being, mouths barely open and no idea what to say to one another. In many ways, it was awkward, but there was a sort of electricity and peacefulness to it... like the silent moments of autumn.

"...I..."

"...I want to..."

"JUST KISS ALREADY!" Monger and Link yelled at them in unison.

"NO TONGUE!" BOB added. He blinked and turned to the other two (fish)men quickly, looking anything but confident. "What does that even mean?"

Dr C gulped, his pupils shrinking in the golden-brown eyes, while Wendy's blush burnt through her like a match. "Did you want to kill them, or can I?" she asked calmly, hiding her wrath quietly inside her.

"Ladies first," he calmly replied. She grinned and ran ahead, not waiting for him to keep up, and let her wrath show as she punched Link in the shoulder. Dr C laughed with the others, his eyes watching Wendy's smile shine. He didn't realise just how badly he was staring until Link snapped his fingers in his face rudely.

"Doc? We're outta here!" he called.

The scientist blinked in surprise and quickly walked over to them, managing to get on the platform just as it began to move and the wall closed up again. They were still talking amongst themselves when Monger suddenly spoke out from the crowd, addressing Wendy.

"Turn out your pockets."

Her victorious smile dropped, and she quickly glanced over to Dr C for advice. He nodded silently, wearing his own worried expression, and she pulled out the C-Square from her jeans reluctantly, handing it over to the general with a sigh.

Monger looked down at the small white rectangle, leaving it far away from his face in case anything exploded. "What is it?"

"...it's a music player," Wendy finally confessed.

"And how did you get it?" Monger asked her, eyebrows raised.

"...uh..." she said stupidly. She didn't dare look over to Dr C... she didn't want him to get into trouble...

"I made it," he quickly said. Wendy's head turned, eyes wide at the doctor. Did he _want _to be seriously doomed?

Monger chuckled. "I suspected something like this would come from you... but I never took you as the inventing sort, Doctor..."

"I've always been inventing," he replied confidently. "I dropped out of the hobby for a while... but I've gotten back into it."

Wendy looked up at him, more confused than ever. She thought making up an invention of some sort would just be another part of his daily routine. This was really unexpected to hear that he hadn't been inventing for a while... Has he ever invented something during his stay here?

Has he ever invented something before Wendy came?

"Do you mind if I take this off you for a few weeks, Doctor? A lot of people will be interested to see this, and I promise you will have full credit for your work," Monger continued.

Dr C went speechless. "You really think so?"

Wendy smiled up at him enthusiastically. "Of course! This is close to legendary, doc!"

"What, really?" he asked, his gold eyes bright. Wendy nodded, her own excitement for him building up. Dr C turned to Monger again and nodded. "You can take it... just for a lend of course, it _is _Wendy's."

Monger nodded respectfully and slipped it in his pocket. "You could be a wealthy man by Christmas time, Doctor Cockroach."

"Oh yeah!" Link said, his eyes suddenly bright. He pinched BOB's side and then gave a punch, making him jiggle wildly. "Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month, no returns of _any _kind!"

Wendy looked from one monster to the other, completely confused by this point. "Wait a minute here... it's December?"

"Yep!" BOB said happily. "Happy Easter, guys!"

Wendy shook her head. "BOB, it's Christmas we're celebrating soon, not Easter..." she said, nudging him in the side. "And my name isn't Wendy..." Everyone turned to her, their smiles fading as a look of surprise washed over them in replacement. She took a deep breath in and smiled back them all, her whole image glowing with optimism and pride. "...it's Zomberella."

* * *

**CrazyA: **TA-DA! Accept who you truly are, kids at home! Because if you don't, the Mva Mary-Sues will eat you while you sleep!

**Dr C: **Don't remind me of them... it's sickening...

**CrazyA: **And some fics I read had the WORST zombie OCs... I felt so sick thinking that us two authors shared a similar idea... But then I look back to Groovy-Gecko's OC 'Zombiella' and all is well... *zen moment* Please PLEASE check her out on deviantART! She's done fanart for our two zombie-twins and I TOTALLY love her! And, as usual, review!


	11. Drown Yourself in Roses

**CrazyA: **Bonjour everyone!

**Dr C: **Oh help, she's learnt to speak french... Now she can rant in _two_ languages

**CrazyA: **Three things, people. ONE: I apologize for the really late update AND for the shortness of this chapter. But you know me, I can't ever do things on time. But, this chapter is a very important step in the ZxDrC relationship. So don't get pissed off at me and complain, because I tried to make up for shorty-lateness using some magic epic dust!

Secondly, it's my birthday tomorrow! YAY! October 6th! So think of this as a present for myself for you guys... or something like that...

**Dr C: **And the third?

**CrazyA: **I know it doesn't match up with the theme, but FIND PATIENT #4479!!! Search for the Joker Blogs if you don't understand!!

**Dr C: **There's something you've forgotten, Jessica...

**CrazyA: **What?

**Dr C: **.... READ AND REVIEW!

**

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**11. Drown Yourself in Roses  
**'_**The precious moments are all lost in the tide. They're swept away and nothing is what it seems... the feeling of belonging to your dreams,' **__– Listen to Your Heart, _DHT

"Link, how much longer do you need with the damn computer?!" yelled Zomberella from across the room. It was the first thing she had said after getting started on 'War of the Worlds' again.

"I just need to buy something for BOB, okay?" he yelled back. "Urgh... women."

"I heard that!"

"It's not my fault that you're PMSing!"

"I _can't_ PMS!" she yelled. "It's physically impossible for me and you know it!"

It was December 20th, of the year 2000. And, like every year, it was time for the monsters to buy their Christmas presents for each other. Luckily, General Monger was considerate enough to open accounts for all of them on eBay for them to go shopping (and lend them a computer while Dr Cockroach made a new one for permanent use). So currently, the mysterious person of 'Linkster69' was purchasing...

...a rubber ball for $2.00. Just like every year.

"Woot! BOB's sorted!" Link said, getting off Monger's computer.

"No I'm not!" BOB yelled back, pausing a moment from playing with his ball. It bounced inside of him, and his friends could see the little red orb being tossed around slowly in his stomach. "I'm blue! Geez, Link, you need glasses!"

Link shook his head sadly at BOB, but still had a massive grin on his face. "You're up, Zomberella."

She grinned back and sat down at the dinner table, high-fiving him along the way. She was really proud of her new name, even if she wasn't before. She sat down and logged out of Link's account, logging in her own one: 'ThrillerKiller007'.

"Hmm..." she muttered. "What would BOB want for Christmas?" she asked herself. After knowing him for nearly a month, he seemed like a really fun guy. He was happy with simple little things in life...

"I know!" she suddenly chirped, clicking on a link to an old set of colouring-in-books. It was perfect for BOB! She quickly put a bid for it, happy to see she was the only bidder at all, and grinned when she came as the highest bidder. "Score!"

Dr C looked over from his pile of cardboard, chewing gum, and paper clips. "You've never gone on eBay before, have you?"

"It's that obvious?" she asked back, a sheepish smile grinning at him. "But I haven't spent Christmas away from home before, either..." she said, her smile going down a few notches.

Dr C saw it instantly. "... Do you miss your family?"

"...Sometimes... only recently though... I just wonder if they're going okay..." she said quietly. "But Christmas is a time where everyone gets all sappy, isn't it?"

"And enjoy stuffing themselves til they burst..." Dr C added.

BOB sighed wistfully, a big grin on his face as he rested his gloopy mass on the table like someone's skull. "I love Christmas..."

"Yeah... December 25th is probably one of the best days in this dumb ol' place..." Link said with another sigh. "How's the computer coming along, Doc?" he asked, picking up a dumbbell.

"Be patient, Link! I'm working as fast as I can!" he yelled in frustration. When it came to his inventions, he liked to pace himself. That way, he could focus and see everything more clearly...

"But hurry up! It's been forty-two years and Monger's getting tired of lending us that computer!" Link yelled back at him.

Dr C was about to give a response when Zomberella ever-so-nicely butted in. "Cram it Link, give the guy a break!" she yelled. "I'm sure that he's doing a better job than _you _would, anyway!"

Dr C smiled warmly at her. "Thank you..."

She shrugged her shoulders casually. "Well it's true, really. Link's just made up of muscles and you're a mad scientist... it's pretty easy to tell who's the smartest one here."

He couldn't help but smile then, even though Link was frowning at the two of them in frustration. It was always a pleasure to hear a compliment from her... "You should get back to your Christmas shopping..."

Zomberella blinked and looked back to the page, only to discover that some middle-aged Californian woman had overbid her. "Agh! Thanks for the reminder!" she said with a quick smile before bidding once more on the second-hand Abbs-Blaster system for Link. "See how you like _that_, Miss..." she quickly checked the username, "...PizzaBagels_fries... That's just sad..."

"How many presents have you got so far?" Link asked.

"Well, in five...four…three...two...ONE! YES!" she yelled, waving her fist in the air with triumph. "Eat _that_!" She turned around to the stunned faces of her friends, trying not to laugh at both herself and their expressions. "Sorry, I get aggressive when it comes to computers... anyway, I've got two presents already today, and I've already planned Insecto's present."

"Who for?" BOB asked, starting to slime his way over to her. Zomberella shooed him away, pressing a button to quickly kill the screen.

"I'm not saying until Christmas morn," she teased. BOB pouted, a giant blue bottom-lip trembling and his pupils positively giant. Zomberella sighed, shaking her head sadly. "I don't fall for the puppy-eyed look, BOB..." she said, trying to stay strong. BOB sniffed, his lip trembling like a ripple in a pond, until she finally gave in. "Fine... I got _you_ a present... but I'm not telling you what!"

"Is it a pony?" he asked excitedly. She shook her head, worried that he'd freak out at her but relieved when he grinned. "Sweet! LINK!" he yelled across the room, happy to see his friend look up in reply. "I'm not getting a pony!"

"...good for you, BOB!" he replied, continuing on with his weight-lifting after rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Wendy, he's totally jealous..." he muttered. BOB was one of the only people who still called her by her original name. Either it was too hard for him to say more than four syllables, or maybe it was just difficult for him to learn a whole new name.

"... What should I get General Monger?" she asked them all, keeping her voice down in case he burst into the room randomly. They all looked up in unison in her general are, wondering if she was actually serious. When the dumb-found expression proved their conclusion, they started to actually think about it.

"What _do_ we get Monger?" Link asked the monsters around them.

"You mean you don't buy him anything?" she asked.

"Well... not really... we just don't know what to buy him..." Dr C admitted. "I know it seems rather heartless, but..."

"But he doesn't get _us_ anything, either!" BOB whined. "So it's perfectly fair!"

"No it isn't BOB," Zomberella said calmly. "Maybe he's not giving us presents, but he's given you all lots of things throughout the year, right? Like Link's dumb-bells and Doctor Cockroach's toy box. We should repay him somehow, right?"

"Zomberella, listen to yourself!" Link said. "Monger's the guy that locked you, and everyone else, up here in the first place!"

"I know, but that's part of his job..." Zomberella said, not liking to remember the flash and the shock of the tazer. "Besides, if we get him something then he might... I don't know... he might warm up to us!"

Link and BOB looked at each other with blank expressions, thinking the same thing between them, before bursting out into laughter. They were practically rolling around on the ground, trying their best to stop their racket in order to end their pain.

"Oh forget it..." Zomberella muttered, typing away into the search bar. She was going to buy the man a present anyway, despite what the others thought... She found a good set of dog tag necklaces and put a bid on those before drifting her eyes across the room...

...and for him?

The tall, charming doctor that she had seen in her dreams hundreds of times over. Dancing in his arms now was a common scene for her, and every time they danced she could swear that it seemed more real as the nights passed. She never told him this, of course, she'd sound like a sad and lonely schoolgirl. It wasn't like she was in love with him or anything, they were just friends... and that was it.

But what to buy him?

He was really kind, and he loved dancing and electro-pop... And, obviously, he was a mad scientist who was interested in all things weird and wonderful. He loved to discover things, make things, and just find something new and fun and zany and...

She got it.

December 25th was going to be awesome.

***

Zomberella smiled as she tucked herself in tighter in the cold sheets of her cell, taking a final glimpse at the large window of her room. Monger allowed the monsters to spruce up their rooms in time for Christmas, so she had edged the window with gold tinsel. Dr C glue-tacked a sprig of mistletoe to the ceiling of his cell (but it sometimes fell off and got attached to his antennae) while Link hung baubles from the ends of his dumb-bell. BOB tried decorating, but he just ate his fake candy-cane and complained about the taste.

Zomberella laughed at the memory of her friend's blunder, shutting her eyes and resting her back on the mattress. She wanted to get to dreamland as fast as possible, for she knew the glittering gold staircases and the many fabulous statues... and the doctor dressed in royal blue velvet... would be waiting for her. But being impatient wouldn't help her sleep, so she relaxed her whole being, stretched all her muscles, and fell under the Sandman's power at her own speed.

...

...

...

...

...

And there she was...

...but she wasn't _there_.

There wasn't a ball or a masquerade or an anything... there wasn't any sign of Dr C _or_ any of the other monsters. It was just Zomberella, lying down in her bed... no, not _her_ bed, a _new_ bed. With pink draping curtains and dark pink sheets so smooth that it felt as if she was touching water. She couldn't see what she looked like, but she felt her normal decomposing self... only her hair seemed curlier, and richer in colour. Somewhere, she could smell cinnamon and roses... it was warm and peaceful, nothing could move her from the swan-feathered mattress.

"This must be heaven..." she whispered. But her lips didn't move... she could hear her voice, almost as if it echoed around her, but she couldn't feel herself actually saying anything. All she did was lie back and sleep...

"Wait... 'Sleeping Beauty'?" she asked herself. She scoffed at the idea. She wouldn't be caught dead in pink, which was a pretty strong statement coming from her. But just as she thought this, all the pink materials of rose, fairy-floss and candy hearts turned to deep shades of blue. "Huh... just like the movie..." she said with a smile. "I love dream-magic..."

She heard a distant rustling, and through the curtain she could make out a figure standing at the dark stone window of her enchanted tower. His footsteps tapped on the cold floors as he approached her, carefully pulling back the curtains to see her face. She didn't need two guesses to figure out who it was...

Dr C stood there, dressed in suitable heroic costume, with his sword by his side. "Wendy of Nocturne..." he said with courage and passion. It took everything Zomberella had inside not to burst out in laughter. "I have conquered the evil witch's three beasts of the land, the sea and the stupid... all to see your face..." His hand reached out to her face, gently stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers.

Zomberella blinked, her whole face feeling hot. "Doc... what are you..." But he couldn't hear her, she was meant to be asleep after all. Even the dreaming zombie fell silent, taking in every detail of this. She didn't want to forget any of it... the design, the scent, the... what was that anyway?

It was a kind of thudding sound, at a steady beat, but it seemed to gradually get faster as the doctor approached hr more closely. She knew it from somewhere, she knew it... she just couldn't tell where from... it felt like so long ago when she last heard it... It was gentle, and quiet, and soothing to listen to... yet it had life, and spirit and heart-

…heart.

It was her heart. Except for the first time in months, it was beating... for doctors could easily find cures for symptoms such a these...

His hand cupped her cheek, the gentle smile on his face making every fibre of her being melt. It was like feeling sunshine for the first time, her whole body tingling in the warmth of the glorious rays. After a brief moment of staring into her eyes, he leaned in closer to her face...

The beat in the background was becoming louder and louder in Zomberella's ears.

She didn't think of what was going on around her any longer... just the warmth and the love coming from him as his gentle lips connected with hers, the whole world seeming to shine brighter than ever before. It wasn't the first time she had ever been kissed, but it felt like it was. Her entire life seemed to start _there, _and she pulled herself from sleep and closer into his arms. Zomberella drowned in the perfume of roses, her cold fingers clutching Dr C's jacket tighter as the kiss deepened...

"HOLY CRAP!!!" she screamed.

The dream shattered into thousands of pieces around her as she awakened and realised what was her reality. The darkness of her room was a comfort, but the silence didn't drown out the screaming truth like she wanted it to... it only increased it.

"Why did I dream that?!" she whispered, scolding herself. "I mean... what was I thinking about?!" She rubbed her forehead with the ball of her palm, her fingers nearly scrunched into a fist, and sat up in her bed, the sheets falling from her chest and lying softly upon her lap.

She felt like her brain was going to burst and fall through her nose... she had never been so confused in her entire existence. But then again, she had never felt so close to anyone as she did with Dr C...

He always listened to her, no matter how weird she went sometimes...

He always smiled with his eyes _and_ his lips...

He always tried his best at everything, and never once just gave up on something because it was too much hard work... in fact, he enjoyed the challenge...

He was just so... so...

"NONONONONONONONONO!!!" she yelled, hitting herself on the head with a wound-up fist. It popped out an eye, which she caught in her free hand and put back in, and sighed. "Okay, calm down... breathe in... breathe out..." she said slowly, calming herself down. Since she was undead she didn't really need the air, but oxygen is a very calming element.

"Alright... get yourself together, Z-Girl..." she said calmly. "It was just a one-off dream... no, a _nightmare_... A nightmare which... you sort of enjoyed... there's no point denying that part..." She got to her feet, beginning to pace the floor of her cell. "But that doesn't lead to any drastic conclusions... You and Doctor C are friends_... good_ friends, sure, but _friends_. Nothing is going to ruin that relationship, especially a one-time dream – _nightmare, _a one-shot _nightmare_!"

_But the doctor's kiss... _screamed the silence. _Why did it make you feel so complete? Why did it make you feel like there was only good in the world? Why was it so much better than any of the rare little kisses you've shared with anyone else? Why do you care so much about this one dream? Why did it make you feel so __**alive**__?_

"I don't know!" Zomberella yelled back. "I like him, I guess! I've always found him to be really charming but..."

_...but...?_

"But... I need to get some sleep..." she moaned, rubbing the corners of her eyes before heading backwards to the bed. "Pretty soon I'll think that the walls are closing in..." She rested her head on her pillow once more, praying that she has some slightly normal dreams for once. Her eyes closed, and her body relaxed...

Meanwhile, in the room next door... Doctor Cockroach was also in a fantasy... he was a brave knight, climbing the ivy of the tallest tower in an enchanted palace. There was something inside that he wanted – no, _needed_. He simply _had_ to climb the tower. The ivy stung his hands as he climbed, but as he came closer to the top he could swear that he smelt roses... yes, roses... and cinnamon...

He reached the window, pulling himself in over the ledge and stepping into the dark room. Inside was a bed, drawn with curtains of... white? He could never really tell when it came to his dreams, they were usually rather blurred. But yes, a creamy shade of white, like the hidden pearl of an undersea clam. Dr C slowly approached the curtains, his metal boots tapping on the floor as he walked. It felt as if the whole room was shaking, and he was the only thing real in there. He reached out a hand, grasping a fistful of fabric, and gently pulled it open to reveal...

...

He looked down at the sleeping figure, lips parted open slightly as the smell of roses drowned all the senses. Her hands were clasped together on her chest, in perfect position, as if she were a silent statue. The whole room was trembling now, but there she lay in perfect peace, as real as he was.

"What is-"

"Doctor..." the sleeping beauty breathed. "I... k-kiss me..."

Dr C blinked, his large hazel eyes staring down at the girl. "Are you-"

"Please, I..." she whispered. "I l..." He couldn't understand what she was saying, it seemed to be drowned out by something. _Another misty part of my dream_, he guessed. He looked down at the closed eyes lying before him. Did he dare try to kiss her? Even for a second? It was what she was asking for, but... was it right to take advantage of this dream?

"When in Rome..." he whispered, leaning closer to her fragile face. He breathed in her life and her being before finally...

"HOLY EINSTEIN!" he shrieked, sitting up in his uncomfortable mattress. He looked around him, breathing heavily, and discovered where he actually was: back in his cell, with a view of the bleak insides of Area 52. He swallowed down his panic, took a deep breath, and found an appropriate way to sum up the battle inside him...

"Oh... em... gee..."

* * *

**CrazyA: **I tried really hard to make Dr C and Wendy's dreams different, even though they follow the same plot. So please tell me if you reckon I did a good job! Wait... You guys all think you know who the girl is, right? Well, here's a few things that might change your mind!

_Susan/Ginormica:_ It could be her as a bit of a dejavu thing for later on. Think about it, why did the Doctor hesitate? He wouldn't kiss a girl he's just met unless he knew that there weren't any consequences... and there AREN'T any consequences in Dreamland! Besides, her white hair could be the source of why he chose white for the colour of the room... you never know...

_Wendy/Zomberella: _As obvious. Sharing the same dream, the whole DrCxOC label in the story, go figure.

_Dead Fiancee with no name: _He would be rather stunned to see her there, thus the hesitation to kiss her. And seeing your dead girlfriend WOULD freak some people out. Plus, white is a very heavenly colour and very spirtual. So who knows. There might be an upcoming exorcism... PLEASE REVIEW, GUYS! TELL ME WHO YOU RECKON IT IS!


	12. Meant to Be There

**CrazyA: **Hey! It's amazing, ain't it? A chapter THIS quick! But this is a pretty short one, even with the level of importance. So I hope you guys enjoy it! I know I did while writing it!!

**

* * *

****12. Meant to Be There  
**_**'Storm clouds may gather, the stars may collide. But I love you until the end of time' – **__Come What May__**, **_Moulin Rouge

"Why am I always the damsel here?" Zomberella asked herself, descending a golden staircase. Her ruffled dress of yellow silk was a right hassle to walk in, but she had to admit that it was beautiful. Her brown hair was nicely done up in a bun with yellow ribbon, and her hands nicely dressed inside pearly golden gloves. She let out a sigh of relief as she realised where she was. "Beauty and the Beast... and there isn't even a kiss until the end of the movie..."

Ever since the first dream in the tower, she had been dreaming different scenes between her and the doctor each night. Each one ending with her waking up in a pool of sweat, still left with the taste of mint on her lips. Each dream was so _real_, and she couldn't help but feel so much peace from each night.

"Don't think about it, Wendy..." she said, remembering her mother's words that usually started a long rant. "Just dream of dancing... that's a very peaceful subject..."

The ballroom was empty, a surprising factor for the zombie, but she could hear an orchestra play a beautiful piece through the air. The music filled her senses, flying around her mind like butterflies. She felt completely at ease, and she relaxed her mind and listened to the sound that only the fortunate got to hear...

...the sound of his footsteps approaching her.

Zomberella stayed focus on the music, trying to pick out what part was what instrument. She could control her dreams... if she just kept him out of it... as soon as he appeared, she couldn't do anything to stop herself from kissing him.

Violin.

Cello.

Harp.

Flute.

"I take it you enjoy this piece?" Doctor Cockroach asked her. Zomberella had her back turned on him, but she knew he was wearing the same royal blue velvet that he always seemed to wear in her dreams. She might've been going mad for fairytales, but she didn't have too much of an imagination.

"Uh... yeah, I do..." she said automatically. Then, realising she's not meant to be on the same terms with her dream-roach, she cleared he throat and tried again. "It's not that good, but still... I guess dreams aren't always perfect..." She felt bad for acting so harshly towards him, even if it was a dream, but she didn't want to realise the truth. Truth wasn't pretty, even if it involved warm feelings and stomach knots.

She could feel the mood in the room drop, and her hope for a normal night increased. She lightly brushed the hair off her neck, trying to do something to fill the now awkward silence. The orchestra still played, but she couldn't enjoy the music as she did before she turned it down. As her thoughts lead to dead ends, the music died into pure silence.

"You're right..." Dr C agreed. "I prefer Aqua over Mozart any day of the week." He laughed nervously, finally dying down into an awkward chuckle as he saw her arms remain crossed around her chest. That was one of the things Zomberella couldn't stand about her dreams, she always made him so real. He might've dressed in different clothes but he always stayed the same doctor. She couldn't take being this mean for this long... she let out a laugh, a quiet one, but a laugh nonetheless. And up went the level of the room again...

"Oh! I brought something for you," he suddenly said, his hand disappearing into the inside of his jacket. Zomberella turned, knowing that to just reject a man who was trying to woo her was just despicable. She would never be that sort of person, especially towards the mad scientist.

But she shouldn't have.

It was a rose, perfect and beautiful in a heavenly shade of white. The blush came quickly as the orchestra began to play once more, that distant beating starting up again. And with that heart-beat, the undead girl knew exactly what was about to happen. She had lot control of the dream and the rest of her emotions. Sense? What was that? Now there was merely giddiness, beauty, freedom, passion and lo-

"It's not much, I know, but I-" Dr C was cut short, for someone had recently realised that lips shouldn't just be alone on someone's face. Taken back for a quick minute as Zomberella latched onto him, the blush on her face a painful red, he rested his hands on her waist carefully as her arms around his neck tightened.

She was usually not the one to go ahead and do this, but in dreamland the rules of reality didn't really matter anymore. The steady beat in the background was quicker now, and she honestly couldn't give a fig about the world back home. Her heart, not the still one in her chest but the part of her body that stored all of the emotional baggage and affection for Dr C, decided that her brain had to shut down for a few minutes while it took a turn at the wheel.

_Stuff the future_, it said, _I love this man._

Zomberella woke with a start, her brain jumping about inside her skull as she suddenly realised what she had been dreaming of... again. But this time, she wasn't screaming at herself and wondering what the hell was going on with her warped and lonely brain. She merely sat up in bed, staring out at the window, thinking about the different factors about tonight.

For starters, _she_ kissed _him_. Usually she was too much of a damsel to actually do anything and just let him do all the work. But the fact that she was bold enough and crazy enough to just lunge at him like that... Were her feelings for him getting stronger? Would the dreams lead to more than a simple kiss?

She hoped not. Otherwise she'd never be able to look Dr C in the eye again.

Secondly, the story she was dreaming about didn't even have a kiss in it, or at least not in the part she was imagining then. She and Dr C were just talking calmly and then she... Her switch from casual to romantic had something to do with flowers, she knew that much. When she dreamt in Snow White form, there were daisies in her glass coffin, and when it was Princess and the Frog (Dr C in a dress... not the best night...) she could swear they were near a lilypad. But even then, she didn't full-on snog people whenever she walked by a flowerbed. Why were her switches getting stronger?

And thirdly...

She had actually said it. Not verbally, no... but she heard a part of her being say it. 'I love this man'. Was her dream entirely based on fiction? She could admit that she had a minor crush on Doctor Cockroach but _love_?

Her feet hit the floor, dressed in her white socks for the extra layer of warmth (as the prison got even colder during the Winter months) and she slowly walked over to the large window of her room. Staring out into the dark of the gigantic metal prison, only dimly lit by the occasional work-station light or helicopter, gave Zomberella a chance to think. And right now, she needed all the thinking she could do.

Doctor Cockroach... who was he? On appearance, he was a freak of nature. Crazy. Wacked in the head. Mutated and overall... a monster. But then again, so was everyone else here. Link wasn't a fish or a monkey, he was this _thing _between the two. BOB was, if she was told right, actually a tomato with a few extra ingredients. Insectosaurus had been exposed to nuclear radiation, morphing him into a giant bug of extreme proportions. And as for Zomberella herself, she couldn't say she was a normal twenty-three year old.

The minute she had heard his voice, the way he spoke and the way he presented himself with dignity and class, she knew she would like him. The way he took everything calmly, and always tried to look out for the people around him. Like how he had tried to protect her from Monger on the first day in the prison, even approaching her afterwards and helping her up to her feet. Or how he had stitched up her stomach when she did her first stumble on the obstacle course...

...she couldn't help but blush at the memory of being held in his arms when he carried her to the lift...

He was always ready to help other people, and he always wanted to _do_ something. The limited amount of boyfriends that Zomberella once had, when she was still just Wendy Summers, always seemed to just stay home and watch the game while she dozed off and dreamed of moving away somewhere far, far away... she even tried doing an online Japanese course, only to give up when her internet started being chewed up.

That was one thing: he never just gave up. If something didn't work, he'd probably mope about it for a while and mutter 'Oh blast'. But then, he'd find some way around the flaw to make it even better than he had originally planned it.

"It's more than a crush... isn't it?" she asked the dark quietly.

...she was in love with him. Hopelessly, utterly and completely in love with him.

No one else in the whole world was like him, and she had never met someone as brilliant, smart and charming as he was.

"What a crazy, random happenstance..." she said, laughing at herself. But her humour died as she realised one of the most important factors...

Should she tell him?

She was still trying to figure out her own feelings, would it be too complicated if she suddenly put another person trying to figure them out as well? Besides, he probably didn't even feel the same way about her. It would be so exhausting seeing him every single day for the rest of her life with this awkward silence between them if she ended up being rejected.

_"Wendy... does Dr C have a crush on you?"_

_"You're doing wonders, my dear!"_

_"Sure, you're not like a girl from TV. But that doesn't make you any less of a person."_

_"Wendy, just trust me."_

_"Guys, just because I'm the only monster with breasts does not make me the one and only for Doctor C..."_

_"Wendy's wonderful, but really! General, we're not that close!"_

... She had close to no idea on what he thought about her. She might as well have been blind, for she couldn't see anything reasonable about what was happening in her world. But she couldn't hear all the things he _had_ said about her. Or at least the things he wanted to say but always ended up being blocked. She had no clue that he even wanted to speak out and tell her.

_"Wendy... you are not cute... you're charming... witty... and a true friend... And most of all... you are... beautiful. Maybe not the type of beautiful you think you should be... but that doesn't mean you're not… And you're definitely one of the funniest of girls I've met in my lifetime..."_

She had no clue that he had ever said such a glorious thing.

Zomberella folded her arms across her chest, closing her eyes quietly. Tomorrow was Christmas morning, and she knew that it would be an appropriate time to tell him. Christmas was all about lovers and family and friends anyway, wasn't it? She just had to think up of a way to get them alone together... she couldn't bear the thought of Link and BOB listening in on her confession.

She would do it. He had a right to know everything. Even if it didn't turn out perfect, Dr C wasn't the sort who would simply turn her down bluntly. They'd always be friends, no matter how badly she screwed everything up.

There was something she had seen a long time ago, while she was just reading through a book at a quick glance. She couldn't even remember the name of the book or how old she was when she read it, but there was a line in there that she liked the sound of. She had forgotten completely about it, but as these feelings bubbled up inside her she couldn't help but think backwards to that quote...

_If you can't get someone out of your head, then maybe they're meant to be there._

Zomberella smiled, rubbing her arms for extra warmth. The prison's pyjamas were fairly thin and a few sizes too big, the ends of her pants trailing on the floor, so they didn't exactly help fight off the cold.

But inside, there was a blazing sun burning away. Though her skin was cold to the touch, she felt so warm inside. It was like her whole body had been sitting in the light of the day, golden rays warming every part of her being. Sure she was freezing... but she felt as cold as Summer.

* * *

**CrazyA: **AND SO IT BEGINS!!!!!! I'm starting the next chapter as we speak, so I'm sure that I can get it up pretty soon. But nothing like this three-day-miracle, I'm afraid. About... a week? Maybe more, depending how I am. Oh, and if you guys know which quotes appear in what chapters, tell me and I'll give you a prize!


	13. Best Friends

**CrazyA: **HELLLLLOOOOO!! This is a pretty important chapter, which is also pretty damn long! ELEVEN PAGES of work went into this (as well as many warnings from teachers as I lost track of homework!) For starters, it's Christmas! And for this, I want to thank GroovyGecko for the idea of having presents from Ebay. I was seriously stumped on what to do and just HAD to use that idea!

**DrC: **Thankyou, my dear!

**CrazyA: **Also, a lot of people seem really REALLY excited about the idea of Wendy confessing her undying love to him! But... I don't want to give anything away too badly... but 13 is an unlucky number. Rawrgh. Romance bites.

**DrC: **So please, enjoy the chapter and leave a review!!

****

* * *

**13. Best Friends  
**'_**Love me, love me. That's all I asked for. Love me, love me.' – **__Monster Remix,_ Meg & Dia

Zomberella quickly stripped from her pyjamas, not wishing to stand in the freezing air-conditioning in just her underwear for too long. Dressing herself in her best jeans and striped shirt, she even took the time to brush her wild brown locks. If she was about to tell a certain someone that she was in love with him, she at least wanted to look her best.

The last time she had ever felt this scared was when she was about to die.

She finished up by tying her red converse, wiping her hands on her jeans as she felt the room quickly fall several floors down, heading for the main dining hall. She took a deep breath, trying to stand on her feet as she fell but with limited success. Her cell came to a halt, and she took in a deep breath.

"Wish me luck..." she muttered to herself. The door opened before her as she walked forward, ignoring that her back wall was closing in behind her. She felt as if the room itself was trying to back her up and encourage her to go for it. With that thought in mind, she couldn't help but smile as she walked into the hall, her eyes wide at what she saw.

The scene looked pretty usual, with the same metal chairs and table, but all the knives and forks were tied with simple red ribbon. The white plates that they usually feasted on were gone, replaced with a different white set with a simple red flower design in the centre, and each plate had a Christmas cracker. Zomberella smiled at the scene, amazed that they actually bothered to do something special for them for once.

"Amazing..." said a familiar English accent. "They still have these plates, even after fifty years." Why did he have to be the first out of his cell? She needed more time to brace herself. Out of four others, Doctor Cockroach was the first to emerge... _Just my luck, _she thought with a sigh. Zomberella turned to the voice, spotting the scientist a door down and gave a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Doc!" she called out.

He turned at the sound of her voice, his gold eyes still a brilliant sight to the zombie even though she should have been used to them by now. He grinned back at her, walking over by her side so they didn't have to talk so far apart. "And to you too, my dear! How did you sleep?"

_Why did he have to ask me __**that **__over anything else? _"Fine, fine..." she said a tad too quickly.

"I just thought I heard you wake up in the middle of the night, that's all..." he explained. He paused for a minute as she hung her head, trying to hide the blush behind her hair. "You've been doing this for the past few nights now... ever since you bought those presents... are you okay?"

"Um, yeah... yeah just some bad dreams, that's all..." she said, hating herself for labelling them as 'bad.'

Dr C could tell the lies from the truth, looking her in the eye and giving a light smile. "If... if you're missing your family, then... just know that everyone here loves you like a real family would... You can talk to me about it anytime, alright?"

Zomberella smiled, nodding her head. He'll just never get it... "Thanks, Doctor... I'd really appreciate it."

He smiled, slowly reaching a hand out to her and tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. He meant nothing by it, merely helping her out, but her whole body froze up as her mind began to shut down, closing her eyes slowly as she felt the warmth of his skin on her own. "Merry Christmas, Wendy..." he said quietly, his hand still on the side of her face. Her blush burning a bit brighter, her body softened at the way he said her name so perfectly.

"DECK THE HALLS WITH SOMETHING HOLLY!!" sang an amphibious primate, emerging from his cell. Dr C's hand moved immediately to his side and Zomberella's eyes snapped open at once, the two of them turning to see their jock friend approaching with BOB.

"Tra la la la la, la la la... Link, what goes next?" the hungerful blob asked. Dr C and Link groaned in exhaustion while Zomberella laughed at her foolish friend.

"Merry Christmas, BOB!" she said between giggles, slapping him a high-five.

"Happy Birthday, you guys!" BOB replied, waving his hands in glee. Another chorus of groans came from the others, but a loud roar drowned out their exhaustion as Insectosaurus entered the room, his massive cell door closing behind him.

Link jumped into action, running along on all fours and jumping up to the enormous bug, clutching his thick creamy fur in his fists for support. "Hey, Insecto!" he said, rubbing his stomach. "Do you know what we get first for Christmas?" he asked. Insectosaurus roared again, stomping his foot like a massive rabbit. Zomberella couldn't hide her smile then, and, since it was a grin of the contagious sort, Dr C smiled with her. "That's right! Presents!!"

BOB squealed, looking all around him for magically wrapped gifts of red and gold. "Where are they?! Where's the pony I'm not getting?!" he asked Zomberella.

Dr C quickly stepped in before he could do anything stupid to the confused monster-girl. "BOB, we've done this about forty times already! First, we have breakfast, and then Monger brings in the crate!"

Zomberella blinked, knowing that there were a few things she had to tune into. "Crate? What crate?"

"All the presents get here in one big crate, and then we all go insane trying to figure out who got what," he explained. "I guess it's a sort-of tradition here."

"Alright!" Link said, running to the table and picking up a Christmas cracker with a wicked grin. "This is it, guys!"

Dr C smirked. "I highly doubt it, Link!" he said, watching as Link inspected the shiny red object from all angles. He turned to Zomberella, who was still looking rather confused, and explained. "Every year, he gets the same joke for Christmas and, for some reason, he thinks that this year is different."

"It's because Zomberella's here!" he explained, running over to her. "Just grab one end and pull, okay? I need your magic touch!"

She laughed, grabbing the opposite end of the cracker. "I _know_ how to do this, Link. I've celebrated Christmas before." She pulled weakly, letting him have an obvious win which he took for granted, wooping and cheering and dancing. He slowly pulled out the scroll, letting his miniature set of crayons falling to the floor, and unfolded it. Silence fell across the room as they waited for his answer.

"People... What do you do when you see a spaceman?" he asked, a massive grin across his face. BOB, Dr C and Insectosaurus roared in triumph. Zomberella cheered with them, knowing that he must've got a different joke for the first time in forever. Link laughed with them all at first, but he grin faded as he saw the answer. "... Park in it, man? Uh... that was lame..." he muttered, scrunching it up into a ball and throwing it aside. "Well at least I get my crayons –hey!" His gaze turned to BOB, who was slowly digesting the colorful wax in a catastrophic mess of bubbles.

"... it was the doc..." he said, pointing a finger at Dr C. Link rolled his eyes and sat down in his chair, picking up the cracker from BOB's plate and waving it in the air.

"Who wants to verse BOB?"

Link managed to take BOB's microscopic puzzle from him, making him upset. Dr C was kind enough to let BOB have his miniature crocodile, which BOB ate at once, and Zomberella pulled her cracker with the scientist to win a toy car. However, she handed the plastic red vehicle over anyway.

"You'll find a better use for it than me," she said with a smile, curling up his fingers around the car.

Just as she was saying this, a pile of fish fell from the sky and onto Link's plate at the sound of a siren. But instead of the usual slithery silver fish, these were flat, round and a tender shade of pink. Link grinned and picked one up in his bare hands, ripping off the head with his teeth. "Mm-mm... salmon for Christmas!"

Dr C watched as a pile of garbage fell from the sky, excited to find out what Christmas special he was getting this year. It all landed in a heap of moldy teddy-bears, torn Christmas stockings, half-eaten turkeys and over-done Christmas pudding. He picked out one of the better looking teddies and put it in his pocket before starting to pick out the bones from the old turkey. That bear might be useful someday.

BOB was jiggling in his seat excitedly, waiting for his own Christmas meal. He looked up at the ceiling, expecting a mountain of ham to fall even though it was shot from a canon at each and every meal. But this year, his ham-canon was replaced with a cooked turkey, and the roasted bird was shot from the wall and into his mass. He laughed as he felt the bubbles inside him dissolve the family-sized meal, which was an entertaining sight for Zomberella while she waited for her own meal.

Suddenly, while she was focused on BOB's digestive bubbles, a loud 'splat' diverted her attention to her plate. It was a strange yellow squiggling mess, that looked too bright to be natural flavoring, and some of the mysterious food had splattered on her cheek. She wiped her finger across her face and tasted the sauce, her eyes going wide.

Link saw her reaction first, pausing a minute from his fish to ask her. "What is it? Cow stomach in a blender?"

"Mac and cheese!" she said excitedly, grabbing her fork and digging in. She missed the strong taste of the fake cheese, the heavy amounts of MSG, and the way that it seemed to all stick together like glue. "Bonne appetite, boys!" she said, swallowing her first mouthful.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Dr C said cheerfully, finishing off his turkey scraps and moving onto the ham. Everyone grunted a reply, as their mouths were all full with Christmas treats, and he continued eating as Insectosaurus let out a roaring reply.

Link looked up from his fish to that giant bug of fuzz. "What was that?" Insecto let out another roar, explaining the situation. "Sweet! Monger should be getting here pretty soon, guys!" He turned to Zomberella with a glint in his eyes that she didn't like the look of. "Z-Girl, you're going to _love_ what I got you."

She put down her fork, nearly finishing her instant-pasta. "If it's a sprig of mistletoe, I have three words: In. Your. Dreams." Dr C and Link laughed at this, making the zombie grin, while BOB looked more confused than ever.

"But... Link's not asleep. Why do you want his toes?" he asked her.

She laughed harder, resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. "Well if you stand underneath a piece of mistletoe, you have to kiss them. It's a Christmas tradition for some weird reason."

"Would you kiss me if _I_ was mistletoe?" he asked. She thought about it for a moment before finally nodding her head. "HA! Told you she likes me best!" he yelled, pointing a finger at Link's direction.

"I never said she liked _me_ best, either!" he yelled back.

She quickly turned to Dr C, who was trying to undo the stitching on the teddy-bear he found and mutter something about an explosion. Letting out a sigh of relief, she thanked her luck that he hadn't heard Link. She quickly glared in his direction, slowly moving a finger underneath her throat to give him the message.

"Merry Christmas, monsters!" came a familiar voice. One of the many doors in the large hall opened, revealing General Monger in a jeep with a large crate on the back that looked at least as tall as him, if not taller. "Got your presents right 'ere!"

It was like someone had set a spark through them all, for they all got to their feet at once and bolted over. It wasn't just because they wanted to see what they got, it was because they also wanted to have the pleasure of giving each other their gifts. Monger pulled out a pry-bar from beneath his seat and jumped onto the back, beginning to undo the bolts that held the box together.

"I can't wait to not get that pony!" BOB whispered to Zomberella excitedly. She grinned back at him and turned to the box with everyone else. Monger got the last bolt undone and kicked off the cover, revealing bubble-wrapped objects of all shapes and sizes.

"Hey, Wendy!" BOB yelled from the back of the crate. "Here's my present!!" He threw a tightly-wrapped parcel in her direction, which she managed to catch with ease. It was rolled up in a long cylinder, so a book of any sort was right out of the question. Zomberella picked open the bubble-wrap with her nails, curious to what was inside, and gasped as she saw. It was a poster about half of Wendy's size, with a picture of Sarah Michelle Gellar in a powerful-looking pose carrying a wooden stake in her hand.

"Oh, epic!" she said, trying to stretch it out. After getting a good look at it, she let it snap back into its scroll form, turning to BOB with a smile. "How'd you know I liked Buffy?"

"I might've had some help," he explained, continuing to search for more presents. There was only one person she had told about her obsession... She turned to Dr C, who was watching her with a smile on his face. She nodded her head and mouthed 'thanks' before climbing into the crate with BOB. Most of it was squished to one side, since another crate inside the crate took up most of the room.

Link whistled at the sight of the large wooden box as he walked into the crate with them. "Whoever gets _that _wins Christmas this year." He picked up a fairly-large box wrapped in bubbles, even though the box itself was protection for the thing inside already. "Who's is this?"

Zomberella turned around and smiled. "Yours from me, I think."

Link grinned, ripping open the wrapping and looking at the picture on the box. He didn't know what it was at first, but when he saw the name of the product he grinned. "An 'Abbs-Blaster'? Awesome!" he said, reading all the instructions on the box. "Thanks, Zomberella!"

"Don't mention it," she replied humbly. She watched as Link put the box aside, beginning to look around for something in particular. "Need a hand?" she asked, detaching her hand and letting it crawl around on the ground beside him.

Link smirked, pulling a flat parcel out and giving it to the hand. "Here you go," he said, watching it scurry off while dragging the present between it's fingers.

Zomberella laughed, bending down to pick up her hand and receive the gift. She popped it back into her wrist and started to unwrap the bubbled plastic, wondering what the squishy object was. As she unwrapped it, several pieces of clothing fell to the floor, including a_ very_ short red tartan skirt and a pair of black leggings.

"Don't get angry at me and call me perverted or anything, 'cause Insecto and I chose this together!" he quickly said as soon as she opened her mouth. She closed it with an exaggerated sigh, making out that she was irritated with him, before pulling off the rest of the wrapping to reveal a simple black shirt to go with them.

"Link, I _would_ be really pissed off at you now, but..." She picked up the red skirt, holding it up in front of her jeans and admiring how it cut above her knees. "It's a _really_ cute skirt, so I guess I won't kill you until I forget about all this..." she finished, giving a grin to Link. "Thanks for buying it for me," she said before quickly ducking her head out of the box and waving at Insectosaurus. "Thanks Insecto!" she called out to him, laughing at his roaring reply.

"Um, General?" Dr C asked, ducking his head out beside Zomberella. Monger looked over from the front seat of the jeep, raising his eyebrows suspiciously. "Do you mind if I use your pry-bar? I need to open my gift..."

Zomberella turned her head to see him, eyes wide. "You bought _that_?" she asked. "Who for?"

"You'll figure it out," he replied calmly with a smile. "General?"

"Sure, sure, just as long as you give it back later and not use it in one of your topsy-turvy experiments..." he said, handing the metal rod over.

"Thankyou," Dr C said before running over to the crate-in-a-crate. He hooked the pry-bar to one of the top bolts and pulled, with no results. The bar merely slipped from the bolt and hit him smack in the middle of his face.

"You okay, doc?" Link asked.

"Do you need any band-aids?" Zomberella asked.

"HAHA!" yelled BOB, shaking from his laughter.

"I-I'm fine," the mad scientist replied, blinking his eyes a few times before the room stopped spinning at last. "Um, Link? Could you-" Before he could finish, Link took the pry-bar from him and started work, pulling bolt after bolt out of the wood with minimum strength. "...Thankyou..."

Zomberella laughed, trying to stifle it as best as she could. She glanced away from Dr C, her eyes finding a place on a gift lying on the floor. Recognising the shape, she picked it up and handed it over to BOB. "While Link's sorting that one out, you can open this one, BOB!"

BOB grinned and took it from her. "Sweet! Who's it for?"

"...You, BOB."

"And why am I getting it?"

"Because it's Christmas."

"So... I get a present from Christmas? Thanks Christmas!!"

"No, it's from me for... you know what, yeah, it's from Christmas."

"YAY CHRISTMAS!" he yelled, ripping open the plastic. Inside was the colouring book that Zomberella had bought, with a bright yellow cover and a set of large wax crayons that weren't entirely together. He flicked through the pages, eventually coming across a picture of a horse, and squealed. "A PONY!!"

"Yes, BOB, a pony!" said Dr C cheerfully. He and Zomberella smiled as they watched him trace the thick black lines of the cartoon... before he tore out the page and ate it. "BOB!"

"Oh it's fine, as long as he gets a kick out of it, I'm okay," said a very calm Zomberella.

"Guys! Last bolt!" said Link, giving a final pull. The end of the crate fell open, and everyone craned their necks to see what was inside. It was a large, grey machine wrapped in plastic bubbles. It had a long base, then two poles coming from the front, and a screen. Because of the wrapping, it was hard to make out what it was at first, but soon Zomberella realised what it was.

"A treadmill!" she breathed. She looked over to Link, who was the major fitness freak there, and grinned. "It's your lucky day, fish-face. By New Year's you'll be completely toned up."

Dr C interrupted her before Link could get his hopes up too high. "It's not for Link... it's... for you."

Zomberella blinked, standing up straight and looking him in the eye. "What, really?" she asked, completely taken back by such an enormous gift.

"It's so that you can practise testing out your sprinting abilities," he explained. "I might have to make a few adjustments so that the machine can keep up with you, but otherwise it should work fine!"

"Doc... for starters: _wow_. And secondly..." She paused, feeling that she should have just said it then and there. But she felt Link, BOB and Monger listening in and watching the blush on her face. She couldn't. Not there, anyway. "...thankyou so much! I've never received anything like this before in my whole life! Who knows how fast I can become with this thing!" she said, popping one of the bubbles on the wrapping. As it popped, she felt a twinge of guilt inside of her, and she fell to the floor and started looking for her present to him.

"Mine isn't _anywhere_ as cool as yours, but..." she paused, finding the oddly-shaped package in the corner of the box. She handed it over with a shy smile, getting off her knees and awkwardly watching him unwrap it, her fingers twiddling behind her back. "I hope you manage to use it for something..."

"I'm sure I will, my dear," he said, ignoring the occasional 'pop' from the wrapping as he continued to carefully pull away. His gold eyes went wide as he found himself clutching a red battery-operated fan that fit nicely in his palm. On the side was a small red button, which he pressed in curiosity. The white fans twirled at top-speed, but the button activated a set of flashing bright lights in pink, blue, yellow and green that lit up the entire crate.

"Whoa..." BOB breathed in awe. "Look at all the fairies..."

"Wendy... this is brilliant!" he said, switching the button off. BOB started looking around to see where the fairies had gone, but the doctor ignored him and looked warmly into the heart of the blushing zombie. "I've never seen anything so imaginative!"

She had never felt more proud of herself in her life. Even the victory through the training course didn't beat what she felt now. Seeing him smile like that really made her feel special, knowing that she was a key source to his joy.

Did he feel the same way when she used the C-Square for the first time?

... She shook it from her mind.

"Thankyou," he said sincerely. "It's a wonderful gift."

She didn't realise she could blush this much at one time.

Suddenly, a loud roar from above their heads diverted their attention. Insectosaurus stood proudly above them, looking down with a goofy smile and his large buck teeth. "You want your present, Insecto?" Zomberella asked. Another roar, and a slight nodding of the giant bug's head. "I'll go grab it!" she said, starting to crawl back out the crate. But her eyes suddenly looked up to see a small package with glinting silver beneath the bubble-wrap. Monger's gift.

She looked over to the General, who was glimpsing through a magazine special on WWII, and back over to Link. He was trying to persuade BOB into actually colouring in the pictures, not just eating them. But there wasn't too much of a success. She smiled and grabbed his attention. "Link!" she hissed so that the general wouldn't hear her. He turned around, wondering what was going through her brain then. "Give this to Monger, will you? It's from all of us." She tossed the small package over, which he caught in one hand.

"Can do, Zomberella!" he whispered back. She smiled at him and jumped out of the crate, careful to land on her feet without breaking off her foot.

"General?" she said, leaning over the edge of the jeep. "I need to grab Insecto's present from my room, okay?"

"No mischief?" he asked, giving her a warning glare. She shook her head. "Then go on, get it." She smiled and ran off to her room, the door beginning to slowly open. Her speed increase made the journey easier, but she never noticed the following set of crawling hands and feet to catch up with her.

"W...Wendy, wait!" he called out. She paused and turned around, spotting Dr C crawling along behind her. He stopped, panting for breath, and got up on his two feet once more. "I think you're fast enough... even without the treadmill!" he said, laughing to himself.

"Sorry!" she said, feeling guilty almost at once. "I never realised you were behind me! I would've slowed down if I knew!"

He chuckled, clutching his side, and stood up straight, taking deep breaths. "I-It's fine," he replied. "I just wondered if... you needed help... with the present..." They were walking and talking at the same time, heading into Zomberella's room. As the darkness of the room came to meet them, she realised the important factors.

They were alone.

In a private place.

Together.

Now was her chance.

"Uh...yeah..." she said, her voice nearly cracking with nerves. "It's a bit big to carry on my own." She started breathing deeply, trying not to screw anything up inside her brain to make everything coming from her mouth sound even worse. They walked up to the giant window of her room, decorated in a frame of shining gold tinsel, and she gave a pull at one loose end of the train. "Can you grab that pile in the corner?" she asked, nodding her head over to a coiled pile of red and gold.

"Sure thing," he said, immediately picking up an end of red. "What exactly are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm making him a Christmas collar... I think..." she said with a laugh. "I just need to tie this to the red and it'll be done." She gave a final pull and watched as the tinsel fell on top of her, landing softly with hardly any noise. With a laugh, she shook it from her shoulders and looked down at the floor, swallowing back the awkward chuckle and trying to think back to what she had been practising through her mind ever since her miniature epiphany. "There's... something I have to confess, actually..." she said quietly.

He looked up from the decorations in his hands, which he seemed very focused on for an unknown reason. "R-Really?" he said, sounding more surprised than she expected him to.

"Yeah..." she said, trying to push back her shoulders with invisible arms. Confidence would've been a real blessing at the time. "I... When I first became what I am today... one of the biggest fears I could think of... was... not having anyone to... to care for me..." She looked from the floor to his face, only to stare at the floor again. It sounded so desperate coming out now, especially since she wasn't as confident there as she was alone in the dark. "So... I'm really glad to know that BOB, Link... probably even Monger... and you... are my friends... and I wouldn't swap you guys for anyone else... especially you..."

Doctor Cockroach smiled at her, the tinsel in his hands being squeezed tightly. "My dear..." he said softly. Zomberella sniffed, trying to keep back the tears that she wished she was able to show him. "But Wendy... we're more than just friends... aren't we?"

Her pale eyes looked up from her grey floor to his caring hazel-gold pools. Her heart was doing somersaults and tangos, ignoring the law that it wasn't allowed to move. "I... we..." she whispered.

His smile practically made her breathe into life again. "We're _best_ friends," he said. "_True_ friends. And nothing is going to change how we are together."

...

...

"Of course," she replied with the biggest grin she could manage. "We're best friends..."

How was she meant to react? How was she meant to tell him? They were friends. Just a pair of best friends. How would he feel if the disgusting corpse-girl, which left grown men screaming at the sight of her, suddenly confessed her bottled-up love? What could he possibly tell her to make her _not_ feel like a rotting heap of undead flesh? What was the best way for him to reject her? What was the best way to fill the rest days of her newly-lengthened life in that prison with awkward silences and painful conversations?

Wasn't it just best to skip those days altogether?

Just prevent them from ever occurring?

Being friends was enough.

Being true friends was even better.

She should just be happy with that.

So why did she feel so miserable?

They emerged from her room minutes later, carrying between them the long length of tinsel, and headed for Insecto. "Hey, buddy!" she called out to the giant bug. "Got your present right here!" Insectosaurus saw the sparkling boa of tinsel and gave a roar in delight. Just as Zomberella and DrC reached his feet, the journey was interrupted by Monger.

"Doctor Cockroach!" he called out. They turned together, a smile on Zomberella's face when she saw the dog-tags proudly worn on his neck. She knew it had been a good choice. "I've got some good news about your invention! Can you come 'ere for a minute?"

The scientist turned from the general to his un-dead friend, who was bearing the exact same excited grin that he wore. "Go on!" she hissed. "You knew you'd go far with this thing!" Silence followed as he nodded a 'thankyou', turned to the general, walking over with pride and confidence. She stared after him longingly, watching as General Monger took on a serious tone and whispered things about 'payment', 'rewards' and 'famous.'

"Need a lift up?"

She jumped at the sound of Link's voice, too focused on their conversation to think about what was going on around her. "You okay?" he asked, staring at her bugged-out white eyes.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. You just caught me a bit off-guard, that's all," she said, smiling at him.

He looked down at the long stretch of tinsel that she was still gripping onto. "It's a collar, right?" She nodded. "Cool! I'll help you put it on!"

Zomberella blinked. "What do you mean? Actually climb up _Insecto_?"

He nodded, giving a wicked grin. "It's easy for a guy like me, but for scrawny chicks like you, maybe not so much..." he said while chuckling. She gave him a glare, but couldn't help smiling as he took her hand in one and a grasp of the giant bug's fur in the other. After he climbed about half a metre up the belly, she took a deep breath and followed after him, the tinsel hanging around her neck so that both hands were free.

"Easy, isn't it?" he asked, calling back. He was already halfway up, rubbing Insectosaurus's stomach occasionally to make the bug roar in delight. Meanwhile, the zombie was struggling with her own journey, even though she was gripping tightly onto his back foot/hand and having him practically drag her along.

"If you say so..." she called back, getting exhausted already.

"Just don't look down!"

"Oh, thankyou very much, Linkster."

Link chuckled, moving up a few more metres while she trailed behind, when he suddenly realised what he could do. "'Ella!" he called. "Hand over the collar! I'll pull you up myself once I get to the top. But... you gotta stay there, okay?" She swallowed and nodded, daring herself to let go of him and take another handful of fur.

Insectosaurus roared once more, stamping his foot. She gripped tighter, scared that he'd shake her off of him altogether. She knew she'd survive the fall, but she wasn't willing to guess the amount of bones she might break on the hundred-feet-fall down to the hard cold floor.

"Insecto thinks you're pretty brave, by the way," Link called, reaching the top of his friend's head. "And he doesn't mean for the climbing."

She blinked, and looked up at the giant gold eye closest to her. She could swear that she found a sense of pity in there. He let out another roar, longer this time, that was clearly directed at her and not Link. It sounded mournful, depressed, comforting and pitiful. She already knew what he was talking about even before it was said out loud in English.

"He says you just gotta keep at it, don't give up hope on him," translated Link. There wasn't anything cocky in his voice now, he was in the same pitiful tone as his enlarged friend. He tossed the tinsel down, which Zomberella managed to grab onto after letting go of a fist of hair. "Come on up!" he said, giving a pull on the sparkling rope. Because of her light weight, it was pretty simple. Afterall, she was mainly skin and bones. "Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Of course not," she said, gripping onto his slimy hands. He pulled her up easily, making sure she was upright and comfortable on Insecto, and she flicked the stray strands of hair from her face. "Whatever gave you that impression?" They grinned at each other for a quick minute before he took one end of the tinsel from her and slid down Insectosaurus' back. Zomberella got to her feet and watch after him as he jumped from one purple spine to the other, perfect landing each time. "You're quite the acrobat!" she called out in admiration.

"Dude," he said. "I've been doing this for over forty years now. Plus a bit of karate, kung-fu, ninja-esque... the basics... If you're so interested, maybe I can teach you!"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"Hey, can you toss the rest of the tinsel around Insecto's neck?" he asked. She gave a thumb's up and walked back to the middle of Insectosaurus, letting the tinsel fall around his body as she walked in a loop and wrapped the bug up. She tossed the end of the tinsel back to Link, who caught it easily and began to tie a clumsy bow. She watched him struggle for a few minutes before taking up the courage to grab another fist of fur, slowly climbing down and using the trail of purple spikes as stairs.

"I'll do it!" she said, half-way there already. "I've been tying Christmas bows since forever."

"Forever is a pretty long time..." Link said with a sigh, watching her tie the bow with a flourish. He paused for a minute, watching as Zomberella awkwardly rubbed the back of Insectosaurus and carefully keeping herself balanced when he stamped his foot in adoration. But when he eventually spoke again, it led to more pausing. "We're going to be in here forever, aren't we?" he asked her.

She stayed silent, rubbing the bug's back until she slowly stopped. For a minute, Link thought she wasn't going to answer at all. But she swallowed back everything and nodded. "I think so... but I don't mind... I'll be able to last you guys for forever."

"... And during forever... are you ever going to tell him?" he asked her.

"Tell what?" she asked, playing dumb and blinking innocently.

"That you think he's it."

"And 'it' would be...?"

"When are you going to tell Doctor Cockroach you think he's hot?"

_"Shut up!!"_ she hissed, flapping her hands uselessly at his face. She glared at Link, threatening him into silence with nothing more than a bit of eye-power, and looked around in case she could spot any mysterious antennae. Her eyes softened, and she felt like crying all over again. "Fine, fine. I... I've got a stupid crush on Doctor C..." she confessed. "Happy now?"

"Very," Link replied. "I always knew you guys were a good item. Now you just gotta actually _tell_ him and then-"

"No!" she hissed. "I can never tell him about this! It's just way too... too confusing. Even _I_ barely understand what's going to happen if..." She fell silent, but mumbled something beneath her breath that Link couldn't catch. He didn't have to. He knew what she was saying anyway.

"If what? He rejected you?" he asked. She slowly nodded, unable to look at him. "He wouldn't do that. Especially not to you."

"But I already tried and... it's obvious he just thinks of me as a friend anyway... shouldn't I just be happy with that?" she said, folding her arms around her chest supportively. She held onto herself, praying she wouldn't start crying her eyes out like in those sad chick-flicks. Real-life seemed more challenging when it came to romance, but the crying always seemed the same as on screen.

"Well... I'm not gonna say anything, okay?" he said quietly. "This is your business, not mine. I'm staying as far away as possible." She smirked slightly, knowing that _he_ was the one trying to get the two together about a month ago. "But, Zomberella... one day, I know you'll tell him. You can't just keep things like this bottled up... especially if you're a girl."

"I know, but..." she paused, thinking it over. "For now... we're all friends... best friends..."

Never had that been said so mournful in the history of forever. Let alone on Christmas day.

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**CrazyA & DrC & hopefully some readers: **OHEMGEEEEEEEEE!!!! WWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

**CrazyA: **I was originally going to have what everyone got eachother but I decided against it. Far too long. And by the way, it's not going to take too long until Susan comes in, about three chapters tops. So you can bet that all hell will break loose when envy becomes a common sickness at Area 5- *shot*

**Monger: **Gotcha, CrazyA!

**DrC: **Well... until she starts breathing again I guess I'm in charge. Um... Oh! Jessica says that fanart will be brilliant if anyone was interested! Just stop by her deviantart account for images on Wendy so that you can use them for referencing. And, um... I think that's it! Please review!!! If we didn't have you readers, we wouldn't be writing this story!!


	14. Bring in the New

**CrazyA: **Howdy y'all! I bet you guys feel pretty special, having all these chapters! And guess what! Susie-Q has entered the facility!! WOO! But first, there's a little part set at the end of Christmas time in 2000, then it skips to 2008. Hope that makes sense... Well, enjoy!!!!

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**14. Bring in the New  
**'_**Now I'm speechless, over the edge and I'm just breathless. I never thought that I'd catch this love bug again,' – **__Lovebug, _Jonas Bros.

"Well, that was a rather splendid day..." he muttered to himself, the door closing behind him. Most of the Christmases that had flown past him seemed like a simple repetition, not really a celebration anymore. But this one was different, it was... it was actually rather fun for once.

It mainly consisted of party games, simple moments of pass-the parcel which resulted in BOB eating the entire gift before they could reveal the tiny plastic toy car. And then it was all summed up with a game of mini-golf, using Wendy as the clubs once more. She was sweet enough to let BOB win, even though that meant destroying all of Link and Dr C's best shots. Link wasn't too pleased with it, and he had to admit that he didn't appreciate BOB rubbing victory in the doctor's face, but it was still a fun day.

"... Fun..." he agreed with himself. "Very fun indeed..."

Why was he stupid enough to just-

But as he was beginning another mental rant at himself, a falling object from above got tangled amongst his antennae... the mistletoe decoration that brightened up the room. He managed to detach the berries and stared at them in the palm of his hand, trying to think up a plan to say something... _do _something... but alas, his mind was at a blank.

He turned to the eastern wall, the one that separated the two from each other with a solid metal sheen. His antennae twitched for some sound, anything at all, that would let him hear what was going on inside. He worried for her occasionally, especially if she was starting to wake up during the night. But no... He walked closer to the wall, closer and closer still, but heard no one. After a few minutes, he gave a sigh and walked away.

The fact that some part of him actually wanted her to be awake almost seemed to haunt him.

But on the other side of the wall, Zomberella kept to the furthest corner of her room, keeping as far away from their shared wall as possible. She had fallen to the floor, her whole body numb and useless to her now. She ached, her whole being trembling with frustration and grief, and sobbed as quietly as she could while praying that he wouldn't hear her.

What had it been... three years? No, even longer than that. In Area 50-X, days could feel like years and yet years could feel like seconds. Time wasn't really considered in there, since most of the monsters had spent a good forty-something years in prison before and had lost track completely. But Zomberella always counted the years, for she hadn't given up hope on the world just yet. Sure she was comfy being inside, but... she did miss the sunlight. And her family. They might not know that she's still alive, but part of her still wanted to reach out to them.

... No, it wasn't three years. It was longer than that... five... seven... eight! Yes, for she had spent seven Christmases in there, and it was sometime during March now (she knew from those exhausting Valentines in the prison, the last one being roughly two weeks ago.) It would be spring-time now... She remembered something specific about Spring... her birthday was somewhere there. But she couldn't bother with that day anymore, in the facility you celebrated the day you became what you were. So Link celebrated the day he was found in the ice, BOB celebrated the day he exploded as blue goo, Doctor Cockroach celebrated the day his experiment failed spectacularly and Zomberella celebrated the day she had died.

It seems strange, but if you're a monster like they were it seems normal. You just forget about the human things (if you had any) and focus on what you've been for the majority of your life. A monster.

The title didn't seem like an insult any longer. It was just a name.

"Zomberella?"

She snapped into the reality once more, jumping up in her chair at once. "What? Oh God, I did it again, didn't I?" she asked, closing her eyes as she realised she had blanked out for the second time that session. "Sorry, that's just happening a lot these days and-"

"It's fine, Zomberella. It's fine," Trip reassured her. He was the facility's psychiatrist and had a talk every two months with the monsters. He and Zomberella got along well after they noticed their similar last name. She did think for a minute that they might've had a slight blood connection, but there were many people called Summers out there in the world. "Which reminds me, how have you been sleeping?"

How should she tell him this? That she can't get Dr C out of her dreams ever since Christmas eight years ago? Sure, it was becoming a rare moment when the two dream-kissed, most of the dreams were just of her dancing with him, but she still couldn't help her mind from wandering on and wishing for things she would never get. So... was today the day to confess?

"Oh, I'm fine! I've been having some good dreams, actually," she replied calmly.

No, it wasn't the day. And not the next day. Or the next. Or the next.

"Really?" Trip asked. "What have you been dreaming of?"

"Um..." she said, letting the unintelligent sound stretch out until she thought of something reasonable. "Flowers... sunshine... you know, Spring-fever things..."

Trip raised an eyebrow, indicating that it was an obvious lie. But he didn't question too far, thinking it best to wait for another session to ask her. He was more focused on another topic today, and was determined to ask her. "So... when was the last time you went on a date?" he asked.

She could barely piece it all together. Why was he asking her this? "Not for about ten years... where are you going with this?" she asked, trying to raise the defences.

He sighed, pushing up his spectacles an inch before they fell off his face. "Wendy..." He only called her that when he was being serious... "You're still a young woman, despite your condition. You have needs that you might not understand, or wants that you might not be able to fill in here. But... if you ever get out of here, you'll still have the chance to start a new life. You can meet up with people and socialize, catch up on things you've missed out on. And, pretty soon, you'll find someone that you'll want to spend the rest of your life with out there in the world."

For once, she thought that Trip was the one going crazy. He couldn't have been more wrong about her social life, or about her dreams. She didn't need someone who had spent their whole life in sunshine. She wasn't interested in someone who would just act like a tour-guide and drag her around from place to place, filling her in on wasted years. She didn't even have to go outside to meet up with someone and socialize, let alone find someone to fall head-over-heels-for.

She already had all that.

Her feelings for Dr C were definitely getting stronger over the years, and her awkward blushes were starting to get the better of her. Link always noticed, either rolling his eyes or giving a pitiful look at her, which she'd always reply to with a forced smile. He never tried to talk to Doc though, knowing that he had to keep his promise before Zomberella decided to kill him in his sleep. Besides, it was her responsibility to do this, anyway.

She still blushed at all those awkward moments, like the time she almost-nearly-sorta walked in on him getting changed (she remembered to knock before entering from then on). Or the time she tripped over a mysteriously placed fish tail (coughLinkcough) and fell right ontop of him. Or the time where the showering timetable got confused and...she still burnt at that memory (thank Christ she had a towel nearby.)

"Zomberella?"

She jumped in her chair, her face bright and burning like a birthday candle. With a guilty smile she shook her head. "This must be getting irritating for you..." she said, laughing at herself.

Trip merely smiled and shook his head with her. "Only a little. Now, let's discuss your relationship with the others."

NONONONONONONONONONONO-

"Sure thing," she replied casually.

"Let's see... how are you and Link getting along? Are you still having your little competitions?" he questioned.

"Yeah, we have the occasional race or two," she said with a chuckle. "I mean, _I_ always win nowadays, but when it comes to strength he's got me beat." It was a true fact. Her speed was getting stronger and stronger as the days passed them by, and she was currently trying to see if she could even run up walls. All she managed was a mad scramble going a few feet up the wall before falling backward with a 'SLAM.' Link would always end up laughing like crazy, making fun that his little inch-mouse (since she was the shortest of the five monsters) was getting into trouble again.

"And how is BOB? Are you two still good friends?"

"Of course! BOB's the crazy glue that makes up our group," she explained calmly. "Sure there have been moments where he drives me crazy, but that's just part of why we all love him."

Trip nodded, smiling broadly as he wrote down a few notes on his notepad. "And what about Doctor Cockroach? You always said that he was your closest friend here, right?" he asked her.

"Sure is!" she said too quickly. She coughed, trying to cover up her blush. She might have been strong-hearted and confident, even described as 'sassy', but she'll always end up in a fit of red cheeks and nervous stuttering when it came to her feelings for Dr C. Everyone seemed to know this, with the exception of BOB and Dr C himself (but even then, BOB was forever asking about the two of them.)

"Now then, that's about it for today!" said Trip in his usual positive way. He closed his notebook and smiled at Zomberella, who was already beginning to stand.

"Thanks, Trip, it's good getting to talk to you again," she said warmly. "See you in two months, alright?" She walked towards the wall, which was already starting to open up widely, and made sure she didn't trip on her way to the platform.

"Alright then," he replied with a smile. "Have a good day!" he called out, the door closing in front of her and shutting the two off entirely. He looked down at his page with a slight smirk, admiring the little scribbles of writing and the doodle of a heart at the bottom of the page... which held the mysterious code of 'DR C + Z'.

Zomberella breathed in the cold air conditioning of the vast hall, the platform jerkily moving across the wall on it's track and towards her room on the other side. She didn't know what it was, but there was just something in the air about today... something really _good_. And as she looked around from face to face of the people that worked there, giving the occasional wave, she could see this new expression on their faces...

... serious?

Really? Usually everyone just sat back and drank their coffees, leaving all the work up to some other poor fellow as the scribbled in the occasional note on their clipboards. But now, everyone looked like they were busy with something _huge_... 'Huge' being the appropriate word here, for she saw a helicopter flying past while carrying a massive box that was spilling over with... clothing? Yes, four torn varieties of jump-suits that looked about as large as Insectosaurus, maybe a little smaller.  
"What's going on?" she asked herself.

She reached her room, the glass window opening wide enough to let her through, and she stepped inside. Her treadmill was sitting in one lonely corner of the room, which she went on for nearly every day of her life. On another corner was her pile of clothes that she had collected over the years as gifts from the guys and the old articles from home. Resting in a drink-bottle holder attached to the treadmill was her cSquare, which she preferred to call the classic name (with the modern twist when it came to spelling) instead of what Apple had re-named it. Dr C was alright with the new name, thinking it sounded better than his original idea, and was happy to know that his invention was making a very bold step in the world. He was even making a great load of money from it, which he was determined to put towards more of his research once they finally broke out of the prison.

Whenever the boys made an escape attempt, it always brought a smile to her face. She never really joined in, for she learnt that Area Fifty-something was a real bitch when it came to security. Monger always managed to race up and grab the musketeers before they could even make it to the chopper, anyway. But she did sometimes have the heart to distract Monger and stall them for time while they bolted, and she forever willing to cheer them all up afterwards when it failed spectacularly.

She thought about the several attempts that had gone past with a smile, stepping up to the machine and picking up her cSquare. She selected a song, nodding her head in time, and was about to start her run when suddenly-

-the alarm sounded.

"Lunch!" she said eagerly, pausing the song and not even jumping as her entire room fell down at least two floors. She landed roughly, the whole room giving a groan as the fall stopped. The door before her opened, and she carefully walked outside to have a look around. That pile of enormous clothing was still a bit suspicious, and anything that seemed suspicious had to be taken care of carefully...

"Hey!" she screamed, jumping at the feeling of something grabbing her arm. A hand covered her muffled protests and she felt herself being dragged backward towards the darkness of another open room. "Lemme go!" she finally yelled as her captor released her mouth. She wheeled around and glared at the face in the dark, only to take in who the glowing eyes belonged to. "Doc... what was all that for?"

"Shush! You might scare it away!" he snapped, flapping a hand at Zomberella. She tried not to be offended, instead taking in where they were. Sometimes the rooms had slight glitches, thus why Dr C's was still slightly open and a few feet from floor-level.

"Doc, what's gotten into you?" asked Link, who was standing behind Dr C and Zomberella. "It's just a new monster! I'm sure he'll be as tough as us five, anyway!"

"YAY! More friends!" squealed BOB, only to be silenced by another 'shush' from Dr C on his left. "OOH! A quiet game! I love these things!!" he squealed again, covering his mouth with his hands and squeezing his eye shut. "I'll beat you guys this time, I know I will!!"

"Yes, BOB, just keep on winning..." explained Zomberella calmly before turning to Dr C. "What's happening? What monster?"

"Just listen carefully!" he hissed in the darkness. She did, straining her ears for any sound until she eventually heard something distant... like another room falling, only faster and from further above. "Hear it?" he asked, smiling as she nodded. "New rooms mean new monsters, Wendy! They've found someone else!"

* * *

**CrazyA: **AAANNNDDD that's the end! Of act One, anyway. We've got about two more to go, and the drama just gets better and better! So I just want to really quickly give a genuine thank-you to all of the people who have reviewed, it all means so much to me!! I wish I could go around and give you all hugs, but that would mean buying plane tickets and... well, I'm P-O-O-R. So yeah. But still!! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!!!! Please keep reviewing! It's a real inspiration for me!


	15. Into the Dollhouse

**CrazyA: **WASSSSUUUUPP?!?!

**DrC: **Not much, really. Heard you saw the Halloween Special a few days ago, by the by. What do you think" *attacked by sudden glompage*

**CrazyA: **SWIRLY-POP!!! SSSWWWIIIRRRLLLYYY-PPPOOOPPP

**DrC: **Right.... Since Jessica can't communicate at the moment, I'll just explain the importance of this chapter. This is, officially, the first time we see Susan. Jess spent a lot of time into this chapter, as it's very hard to fit your OC with an already-made scene. Please review and tell us both what you think, she'd really appreciate what you make of this as criticism is much-loved here!! Enjoy!

* * *

**15. Into the Doll-house  
**'_**...that face of an angel comes out just when you need it to. As I pace back and forth all this time...' – **__White Horse, _Taylor Swift

New monster?

When a monster first arrives at the facility, they can either have two reactions. The first one, the reason why our four main heroes are in hiding, is the negative. Like a wild lion trapped in a cage, they will snap at the people around them and refuse to cooperate. Depending on what type of monster they were, an angry fit could put the others in complete danger.

The second reaction is one of complete confusion, where the new monster loses its voice for about three days or so until he starts to get used to their new surroundings and start to get to know the others.

The new room was still falling, the whooshing heard distantly in Dr C's antennae, and even more faintly to everyone else that stood beside him in the dark. Link was still miffed that they had to stand there, but the suspense of it all made him stay. BOB stood with them purely because it was what everyone else was doing. Dr C stood there because it was his idea in the first place, and Zomberella stood there because she couldn't help feeling scared about what she was going to find, and the dark is a very protective and comforting element when you were scared.

And a giant metal table, at least twenty-five feet tall and with a matching chair, wasn't exactly helping their courage in any positive fashion.

The falling seemed to last a lifetime, but it finally came to a heavy 'thud', and the large metal door lifted up to reveal a hidden figure sitting in the dark of the room. No one could really make out anything, but the heavy breathing was audible now without straining your ears too much.

Silence fell amongst them all as they waited for the moment of true judgement... the back wall of the cell began to close in, pushing the monster into the bright lights and wide space of the hall. From the way it was crying out in panic, they all assumed it was another girl. They were right, for bit by bit another part of her came to the light revealing a foot about the size of a small car, followed by another foot, then legs as long as pine-trees were tall...

When you're locked inside a facility made for monsters, you forget that there are some _very_ gorgeous people in the world. The new girl was one of said people, for she had a heart-shaped face and gorgeous blue eyes that reminded her of blue-birds and many other characters you find in Disney movies. Her short hair was a shade of white that surely wasn't natural, and her face was dotted with a few freckles.

She was breath-takingly perfect. Zomberella even ignored her height-factor, only to realise it as she began to stand up and search around the room. "Hello?" she called out in a nervous voice, the door closing shut behind her with a slight groan. Zomberella recognised the outfit she was wearing, a finalized black-and-orange jumpsuit much like the four she had seen being carried away and, she was happy to note, a giant pair of Converse low-tops. The stranger jumped as she stood on one of the chairs at the original table, bending down to pick the flattened metal up curiously.

Zomberella turned from this marvellous creature of light, looking to the others in the dark. Link and Dr C looked about as equally shocked as she was, staring at the pair of tall legs that squeaked across the metal flooring, and BOB still had his eye squeezed shut from 'the Silent Game'. "Psst, BOB!" hissed Link as quietly as he could. "Open your eye!"

BOB did so, turning to the wide gap where they were all looking out of. For a moment he was silent, but then his face turned into a confused, blank expression as he turned to the others and asked: "Is it just legs? Did they capture a giant pair of legs?" The undead gave a laugh at that, though she tried to stifle it and keep it quiet.

"Silence, BOB! She'll hear us!" hissed Dr C.

"How? Legs don't have ears."

Another laugh from Zomberella.

"Just shush!" he hissed once more, pressing a finger to his lips and sending a warning glare at both of them. They both went quiet once more, though she couldn't help but keep smiling at BOB's obvious confusion.

"Hello?" called out the giantess, who was making her way towards the door slowly. They had all failed to recognise that they had accidentally drawn attention to themselves. The girl got to the floor on her knees, ducking underneath the door and trying to peer into dark. On instinct, they all ducked (with the exception of BOB who sucked onto the back of the door and ducked-_upward_.) "Is there someone there? C-Could you please tell me where I am?" she asked, her voice nearly breaking. For a while she kept trying to search for the source of their voices, but she was distracted by a distant high-pitched noise and a sudden 'splat' and walked off to investigate.

Link glared at the three monsters beside him, though they could barely make each other out in the darkness. "Why are we just sitting here?!" he hissed. "Someone go out and actually _talk _to her, for crying out loud!"

Zomberella nodded, Dr C sighed and muttered 'you're right', and BOB looked as confused as ever, sinking to the floor like a raindrop. "Okay," the zombie whispered. "Who's going?"

"You should," said Dr C at once. "You're the only other female here, she can relate to you more!" he explained.

Zomberella shook her head quickly. Rotting zombie vs. gorgeous giant? "No way! I'll scare the living daylights out of her! _You _do it! You've got people-skills!"

"You were a _tour-guide_, Wendy, you've _got_ to have people skills!"

"_No_, I had a fridge full of soft-drink!! That is _not_ a people skill!"

"Look, someone just _go_ already!" hissed Link before the argument could get out of hand any further. He pointed a finger at Dr C and gave his firmest glare. "You, Lady's Man, get out there _now_. It was your idea to drag us back here anyway!" he hissed.

Dr C spluttered a light-hearted protest before giving up, his antennae drooping. "Fine, I'll go..." he muttered, standing up and beginning to brush off his lab-coat. "Still don't see why it's _me_, anyway."

Zomberella felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at him cowardly and stood up with him. "I'll come with," she said. "But only because I don't want you getting squashed or anything like that." He gave a slight smile and pulled himself up and into the light, blinking at the sudden brightness. While the giant was distracted with a spoon the size of a grown man, the two monsters bolted under the extra-large table, Dr C running (well, technically scuttling) on hands and feet and Zomberella's white eyes and scars glowing as she ran.

"Hello?!" the giant asked again nervously, hearing the light footsteps but seeing no figures: they were too fast for her eyes. "What was that?" she asked herself. She didn't think to look beneath the table, where Zomberella was being pulled up the stand by Dr C, her feet treading on the metal only every few seconds. He pulled her up and over the side, feet still scuttling, while they hid behind a large pile of...

Zomberella carefully poked the gooey yellow mess, tasting her finger with a smile. It was porridge, but simple and plain without any honey to make it better. She turned to Dr C, who was crouching down beside her, and smiled with her glowing white eyes. "Thanks for the lift," she whispered.

He smiled his reply, beginning to stand up and motioning for her to stay seated. She did, nodding to show she got the message, and he ducked his eyes around the side of the porridge. The giant was looking right at him and his twitching antennae, looking more terrified than ever as he walked into her full sight and bowed low. "Hello," he said calmly.

"EW!!" she screeched, slamming the spoon onto the table with a loud 'smack' of metal-on-metal. Zomberella watched with wide-eyes as Dr C ducked, the spoon only just missing him by an inch. She tried to swat him once more, which he stepped to the side quickly to avoid a certain death. He looked about as offended as he did when he was called a 'quack', and glared up at her coldly.

"What are you doing--?" he tried to yell up at her, only to be interrupted by another whack of the spoon. Zomberella got to her feet, carefully not to bump into a mug as big as herself, and flinched as the spoon came down on the table again. "Careful!!" he pleaded. Zomberella screamed as the giant succeeded in getting him, the spoon nearly crushing his bones, only to pick the frustrated scientist off the table and onto the spoon.

"Hey! QUIT IT!!!" screamed Zomberella, ducking out from the porridge and making the homicidal giant flinch at the very sight. Her glowing eyes weren't the easiest thing to look at, and her green skin and scars weren't a complimenting factor. "What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

"Please!! Madam!!!" yelled Dr C, being held out at arm's length and gripping on for dear life to the spoon. Frightened that there was a talking cockroach on her utensil, she slammed the spoon down again. "STOP! DOING! THAT!!" he ordered between hits. He finally let go of the weapon, being squashed and crumpled like a sad autumn leaf in a puddle as she hit him for the last time, looking down at his shrunken pupils with a sense of disgust, confusion and fear.

Zomberella, however, was glaring at the giant. "Okay, what was that for?! Honestly!" she cried, rolling her eyes and creeping closer to the scientist, sighing with relief as he attempted to stand.

"Whatever mad scientist made you... he _really _went all out..." he said, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he spun around and fell back to the floor.

Zomberella looked from the unconscious scientist and to the staring giant, who had close to know idea what was going on. "Okay, drop the spoon!" she ordered, trying to keep strong. "I never thought I'd have to say it, but _drop the spoon_..." The giant stared at her, eyes almost seeming to twitch, as this strange green doll with ragged hair and clothing, bent down to a cockroach's side and started to help him to his feet. "You okay, Doc?" asked the creepy doll-thing, pulling him up by the arm.

"Fine, just sunned, that's all..." it said, starting to stand at last. It was still shaking from the hit, but it seemed to be getting over its injuries. The doll ignored the comment, almost treating it as if... Anyway, she inspected his arm curiously and looked for any broken bones, not noticing the smile on the insect's... she guessed it was a face.

There was a clatter as the giant dropped the spoon and began to back away from the talking insect and doll, staring at the two in utter disbelief. "You can... _talk_..." she said, more to herself than to them, as she took another step backward and fell, slipping on something.

Zomberella ducked over the side of the table, checking up on the giant for injuries despite her current frustration with her. "You okay there?" she asked, looking for what she had slipped on. At first, she assumed it was the metal flooring, but then she noticed the slimy blue gloop on the giant's shoes. She pulled at it, the thing bouncing into her giant hand as it slowly fell into an odd shape... and opened its eye.

"Hi there!!" cried BOB, only to be swatted onto the table with an 'ick' and splattered into two halves, one nearly getting Zomberella in the face. "ARGH! MY BACK!!" he screamed in agony, pointing at the lower half of him that was several feet away. He suddenly turned his horrified expression to one of joy, his whole face relaxing. "Just kidding! I don't have a back!!" he exclaimed, laughing at the very poor joke as he zoomed his way across the table and back to his other half.

Zomberella rolled her eyes, sitting down cross-legged and hiding her face in her hands as she normally did after hearing that joke. "Oh the hilarity that is BOB..." she muttered, rubbing her temples.

Dr C turned to the giant, shaking his head at Zomberella, and explained the situation calmly. "Do forgive him, but as you can see he has no... _brain_…"

"Turns out, _you don't need one!_" said BOB excitedly, ignoring the girl's repulsed and horrified expression. "_Totally overrated_! As a matter of fact, I don't even-" He cut himself short, his pupil shrinking and his mass seeming to shrink in on itself. His jaw dropped to the ground, and his voice became rasped. "I forgot how to breathe! Don't know how to breathe!!!" he turned from the giant, to Zomberella, and finally to Dr C. "Help me Doctor Cockroach, HELP!!!" he screamed, shaking the man wildly before falling to the table, trying to inhale as best as he could but with no success.

"Suck in, BOB."

The simple explanation seemed to work, for as Dr C started dusting off his coat once more, BOB was slowly coming back to his normal form, breathing deeply. "Woo... thanks, doc... You're a life-saver..." he said, slapping him over the back.

Zomberella looked up, smiling at his frustrated expression, and back to the girl. Little did the giant notice though, that a green fish-ape was attempting to crawl over her white locks and onto her face, grinning wolfishly at her. "Wow... look at you..." he muttered, staring at her large Bambi eyes.

"Link, you just met the poor girl, at _least_ introduce yourself before attempting to flirt..." she groaned, smirking at the about-to-fail attempt to woo the giantess.

"Oh get your mind out of the gutter!" yelled Link, ignoring her poked tongue and turning back to the giant. "I know what you're thinking... first day in prison and you wanna take down the toughest guy in the yard... well I'd like to see you try..." he said, jumping off her face, rolling down her knee and leaping onto the floor, landing on two feet skilfully before breaking out into many ninja-styled poses and moves, each one more ridiculous than before, until he ended up cracking his spine and crashing to the floor after and attempt to do a hand-stand

Dr C sighed, rolling his eyes and sitting on the edge of the table, looking down at the distant floor beneath. "We better get down there..." he said to the two beside him, who nodded and jumped with in unison, landing perfectly on the floor as if they were there the whole time.

Link was beginning to stand up, rolling back his shoulders and looking over at the stunned expression on the new-girl's face. He seemed to take it as a compliment, for he turned to the others and smiled. "Look, she's speechless!" he grinned.

BOB stared at Link, bug-eyed in amazement. "_She?_"

"Yes, BOB," answered Dr C. "We are in the presence of the rare _female_ monster..."

"You talk as if women are endangered _birds_ or something," said Zomberella. "Look, the last two monsters have both been girls! We're not _that_ rare!"

"No way!" said BOB in amazement. "It's not a _bird_, Wendy, it's a _boy_! Just look at his boobies..." he added, pointing from one breast to the other. Dr C turned slightly, before rolling his eyes and glaring at BOB when he realised what he was about to do, while Zomberella just sighed and slapped her forehead.

All Link could do was stare at BOB dryly and say: "We need to have a talk."

"Gentlemen – and Wendy," Dr C added appropriately. "I'm afraid we're not making a very good first impression!" he said nervously.

"At least I'm talking!" said Link as he slapped Dr C in the shoulder. "First new monster in years and we couldn't get like a Mummy or a Wolfman... you know, just someone we can play cards with!" Zomberella quirked an eyebrow in his direction, reminding Link of the many games they played together through the years. "Uh..."

"No offence taken..." she finished, smirking slightly. Link could be a bit of a jerk sometimes, she didn't take it as an offence. They all looked from one to the other and turned towards the terrified giant, who was staring at them and listening on their conversation with great confusion.

Dr C was the first one to speak. "Might we ask your name, madam?"

She stared at the four of them, eyes wide and silent. "Susan," she said flatly.

"No, no, no, we mean like your _monster _name," BOB explained. "What do people scream when they see you coming? Like... LOOK OUT! HERE COMES..." he started, waiting patiently for her to fill in the blanks with something terrifying.

"... Susan," she repeated.

There was a moment of awkward, slightly pitiful silence, which Dr C broke very sarcastically. "Really?" he asked, equally as flat in his tone as she was.

"SUUUUSSAAANNN..." said BOB in his best ghost impression, which wasn't anything too special. He seemed to jump at the thought and turned to Zomberella. "I just scared myself! That _is _scary!" She merely smiled and shook her head, appreciating the naive blob more and more.

Link, who was standing at the back of them all still in a strop about Susan's gender, jumped at the sudden sound of the lunch alarm. "Yes!" he said happily. "Eat time!" They all ran to their regular-sized table, each one taking their usual place and waiting for their food to fall from the ceiling. Link's meal was first, with a dozen fish falling from above which he greedily bit the heads off raw and munched down quickly.

"That is repulsive..." muttered Dr C, watching as BOB tried to steal a fish. He was quickly silenced though as a pile of garbage landed before him, and he picked out a mouldy pink object from the pile. "Ooh! An old slipper!" he cried, swatting BOB's hand away with it quickly before chewing on it like corn-on-the-cob.

BOB pouted, thinking (the word used here in the broadest sense of terms) that he was going to die of starvation, when a sudden explosion from the far end of the room occurred out of the Ham Cannon. The meat landed inside of BOB, being tossed and turned by bubbles as it began to dissolve.

Zomberella stared up at the ceiling, drumming her fingers on the table, and watched as her own pink mass of meat fell with the usual sound of 'sploot'. She picked up the sheep brain in her hands, trying to maintain the image of a cheeseburger, and bit into it. Slime, drool and a hint of blood ran down her chin, which she wiped away carefully with the edge of her sleeve, as she tried to chew it with a closed mouth.

Susan, who was staring at them all with nothing more than fear and confusion inside of her, began to back away. "Oh please, God, please tell me this isn't real..." she whispered, getting as far away as possible from them. "Please tell me I had a nervous breakdown at the wedding and now I'm at a mental hospital and I'm on medication that's giving me hallucinations-"

She stopped her ramblings as she backed into a warm, fuzzy wall. Her jaw dropped as the deep roar of Insectosaurus trembled in his chest, vibrations going all down her back. She pressed her hands to his chest, making sure the inch-thick fur was real, and looked up at bucked smile of the giant bug as he let out a roar to greet her.

Susan screamed, causing everyone at the table to look up and see her running as fast as possible from Insectosaurus, who was trying to follow her and calm her down. Link glared at her as she ran past, getting out of his seat and rolling his eyes. "Don't scare Insectosaurus, he's gonna pee himself! Then we'll _all_ be in trouble!" he called, running off to his giant friend and jumping onto his fur.

"There's always a door!" Susan screamed in panic. "There's gotta be a door! Where's the door?!" She ran to where the monsters had come from, which was now firmly sealed, and checked for an entry that would've been about half her size. Zomberella watched, feeling sorry for the poor girl. She remembered what it felt like to be in her situation, not knowing what was going on and feeling like you were trapped in a layer of Hell.

Link was ignoring her, climbing higher and higher up the bug's belly. "It's okay, buddy, don't worry about it! Who's a handsome bug?!" he cooed. "You like it when I rub your tummy?!" Insectosaurus stamped his feet as a response, almost seeming to purr.

No one was helping her.

Someone had to.

Zomberella got up in her chair, watching as Susan ran from one side of the room to the other. "PLEASE! Somebody! I don't belong here!" she screamed, running in a zig-zag as she tried all the doors. "Let me OUT!"

"Hey, that is _not_ a good idea!" called Link, turning from Insecto momentarily to yell at Susan once more.

Zomberella ran behind her, even faster than the giant despite her strong strides, with white eyes a'glowin'. "Susan, wait a sec! You have to calm down!" she yelled.

"LET ME OOOUUTT!!" yelled Susan, banging her fists on the wall.

Suddenly, as if she had slammed a secret code into the wall, the massive door opened to reveal a creature hiding in the dark, two glowing red eyes staring at Susan hungrily. Zomberella, Link, and all the other monsters stared with her, wondering what this strange new creature wanted... when General Monger appeared floating on a jetpack instead.

"Monsters! Get back in your cells!" he ordered, glaring at them all. He was probably still peeved from the escape attempt made a week ago... Zomberella turned to the others, who were already beginning to head back to their cells, and ran off to her room before the door could lock her out.

She just prayed that Susan didn't do what she did and get Monger pissed off. She didn't seem like the type of girl who could take an electric shock and _not_ get offended.

The room flew upward, nearly knocking Zomberella onto her back. She stayed standing tall though, believe it or not, and only jumped when her cell came to a stop once more. The giant glass window that stretched across one wall was still there, and she smiled out at the view of the prison's vast halls. Now, to do what she was originally intending... onto the treadmill.

She pressed a few buttons and kicked the equipment a few times before it finally started to run, much to her delight. The speed was fairly slow, so she was able to do a simple walk as she adjusted the speed dramatically so that the platform below her was a blur. At first, she stumbled as her body adjusted to the speed, but then her own feet became part of the blur and the scars underneath her clothing began to glow neon green. Her eyes started glowing brightly, so that her corner of the room outshone the fluorescent light above her with an eerie green glow. Her iPod was pumping out a steady beat for her to run to, and no one was going to tell her to stop.

She loved running about as much as Dr C loved dancing; it brought this adrenaline rush to her veins and always left her feeling fantastic. Just this sudden jump-start of energy and power, it reminded her of what it liked to actually _live_. She could hear the track beneath her rush as she stepped lightly and quickly, barely touching the floor. It was like running with wings on her feet...

...but today she couldn't concentrate on that so well.

Her mind was permanently focused on Susan, this sad twinge of guilt that ate away at her inside. She had become used to the facility by now, but she still remembered what it was like when she first arrived. She knew what it was like to be Susan's spot, and she knew almost exactly what she was thinking.

Home.

She looked back up to the window, staring out at the cold machine-work and the dark helicopters that flew across the view like mechanical rain-clouds. She loved the view, despite the depressing feel to it, but only because it reminded her of NANP. Susan was probably more interested in more... fuzzy-bunny sights. She wouldn't last long in here.

And speak of the angel...

The sight was quickly blocked as the giant herself slowly slid past, standing on another floating platform, while Monger floated around her like a wasp in his jet-pack. Startled by the sight, Zomberella tripped over her feet and flew backwards with a scream, landing into the wall behind her while the treadmill continued running. Susan flinched as she crashed, looking more horrified as an eye popped from her skull and rolled along on the floor. Zomberella stopped staring then, trying to maintain her cool as she searched blindly for the missing peeker. Monger didn't notice, he was too busy saying something into his walkie-talkie. She only managed to look up once more as Susan zoomed out of sight, the view returning to the basic silver-grey look of the prison.

"Damn it," muttered Zomberella, squishing her eyes back into place. "So much for 'great first impressions'..." She stood up, about to step onto the machine once more, when she heard something come from next door. It was Monger... and Susan... She turned off her cSquare and looked over to the right wall, wondering what could be going on there. She guessed that she was now cell-neighbours with Susan, that was fairly obvious, but she still wondered what they were saying. She still couldn't hear them when she turned off the treadmill, and desperately tried to eavesdrop by pressing her ear to the wall.

Murmurs, just mere murmurs.

She waited, and waited, and waited, but Susan's cell fell into silence. There was a slight groan as the door closed on her, and she quickly turned to the window to see Monger flying past in his jetpack. It was just her now.

Zomberella remembered the first night she had spent in her cell. She could barely sleep (and even then, it was just nightmares instead of fantasies.) She couldn't think straight. She just thought of her family. How they missed her. What they were doing. Did they know where she was? Things like that. And little moments she had spent with them; waking up to the smell of Dad's smiley-face-cook-up, Mum nagging at her to get to work, just how she'd never get those moments again. And all these thoughts led to her crying her eyes out...

But she was still startled to hear the quiet sobbing coming from next door.

* * *

**CrazyA: **Swirlypop.... swirlypop... *latched onto DrC's arm, drooling on his sleeve*

**DrC: **Oh bugger... Well, once again, please review and tell us what you make of it! It's always an honour to hear from you all, and Jess wants to know where she can improve!


	16. Comfort

**CrazyA: **Wow, that was awful fast!

**DrC: **So you've recovered from the Swirly-Pop?

**CrazyA: **Heck no. If any of y'all know where to find a decent FREE (no subscriptions, puh-lease) file of the Halloween Special of MvA, PLEASE CONTACT ME. I'm dying to know. So, moving on. We got ourselves a new chapter, ain't we? Susan gets a bit of a talkingz to from Zomberella, and... well, let's just say that the plot is a little bit thickened at the end! So can ya leave a review? It'd be mighty nice of y'all!

**Dr C: **Are you trying to be Southern?

**CrazyA: **YEE-HAW!

**DrC: **Racist

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**16. Comfort  
**_**'I don't know what's right and what's real anymore. And I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore. And when do you think it'll all become clear? 'Cause I'm being taken over by the fear,' – **__The Fear, _Lily Allen

The two worst things to listen to are: listening to other people 'get on with the nast-ay' and listening to other people crying. For either situation, it's an awkward spot to be in. You don't know how to react, whether to come out from the shadows and tell them that you're there or keep hiding and wait for it to be over to save yourself some embarrassment. And if you don't know who they are, then it makes the situation even worse.

So, at the moment, Zomberella was probably having the most horrible experience that she ever faced in the facility. Luckily, this experience was only about five to ten minutes long and not the potential hours it could have turned into.

Susan was just beyond the metal of the wall, quietly crying and wishing for her life to be a dream. Being stuck in a prison with strange creatures that she'd never heard of before, not knowing when she'd be able to get out. Her family worrying about her, about how her fiancé was probably aching at the thought of them not being together. And, most importantly, being labelled something as horrible as a 'monster'... a threat to society, and a creature of disgust.

Zomberella sighed, leaning on the wall that separated them, and wondered what she could do. She could try talking through the wall, but then Susan might think she was beginning to hear voices. She had to actually get in there and give Susan some close-to-human comfort, the one thing she needed in the world, and let her know that she had friends here in the prison.

Just as she was thinking this, the wall open up and she nearly toppled backward into Susan's cell.

Susan retracted from her curled-up position, jumping at the sudden movement of the wall. Her eyes went wide as the strange green doll from before let out a scream, falling backward and trying to maintain balance. The bottom of the cell was so far from her door, and the drop from the two levels was surely life-threatening. She wobbled on her heels, limbs flying, before she eventually felt herself being pushed roughly into her room one more.

After finally getting her balance, the zombie turned, surprised to see a giant finger guiding her into the cell only to realise who it belonged to. "Are you okay?" asked Susan nervously. "You could have been killed! I'm so sorry!"

"What for? You saved me, remember?" replied Zomberella, smiling up at the innocently blue eyes of the giant. "Besides, I highly doubt that I'd be killed." Susan blinked, not getting it at all. Zomberella didn't really blame her, on appearance she didn't seem like anything too life-threatening. It took a few explanations before people realised that she was a member of the undead. "So are _you_ okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, really..." she said too brightly. She looked down at the blank eyes of Zomberella for a few minutes before her own eyes started to fill up with tears again. "No..." she finally whispered, choking on a sob. The tears came quickly, and she rested her head on her knees as she let it all out. "I don't know anymore!" she cried between sobs.

Zomberella sighed, sitting down on the ledge on placing herself between two rooms. She waited out in the silence, listening to the giant's sobs for a few more minutes and watching her whole body tremble and ache, before speaking out once more. "What's wrong?"

Susan curled her legs up tighter to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "Everything..." she muttered. "I'm supposed to be married to the guy of my dreams by now... but instead I'm stuck inside a _prison_ with no chance of escaping..." She started to wipe her eyes, only to end up with more tears springing loose. "I'm now a monster at a hundred feet tall, and I'm never going to be Susan Murphy again..." She paused, sighing and running a hand through her white hair. "They changed my _name_..." she said, almost forgetting that Zomberella was sitting right beside her.

The zombie picked up at this last part. "What is it now?"

Susan paused, no longer playing with her strands of short white hair. She hesitated in saying it, wanting to make sure that this was actually _real_ before saying it herself. "...Ginormica..." she finally whispered.

Zomberella nodded her head slowly, taking it in. She couldn't help hiding the smile on her face, which stretched from that to a wide grin and a snigger. Susan stared at her, horrified to see that she was on the verge of laughter. "It's not funny!" she cried, obviously offended by the bright spark of humour found in her white eyes.

Zomberella shook her head quickly covering up the lower-half of her face with her hands. "It's not about you!" she quickly said, mid-laugh. "It's just that the names they give us are getting worse and worse!!" The laughter quickly died, but she was happy to see that Susan's expression was softer and not quite as offended as it was earlier.

"So... what's yours?" she asked quietly, her voice barely echoed in the vastness of her cell.

"Zomberella," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Stupid, I know, but we haven't really got a choice in it..." The last line must've taken a turn on Susan, for she looked like she was about to start crying all over again. "But don't get me wrong, people still call me Wendy. It's just Link and the zidiots running the nation that call me 'Zomberella'."

Susan nodded, her whole body seeming to relax a bit. "So I... I mean... I can still be called 'Susan'?" she asked nervously.

Zomberella shrugged her shoulders casually, trying to take the pressure off the situation by acting close to normal. "You can be called 'King Flowerpot' if you want to, the guys here don't mind about names."

"The guys?" asked Susan. She suddenly realised what she had meant, and answered her own question. "Oh right, the...others..."

Zomberella couldn't help but be a bit put off from there. She understood that it took time to relate to the monsters, especially to such a sugary-sunshine girl like Susan, but she was one of those 'others'. She gave an inward sigh, knowing that it was just going to be a bit more time for her to take it all in. Miracles don't happen too quickly. Besides, Susan looked like she was a good person. She wouldn't treat other people like they were beneath her, she was just still in fear, that was all.

"You said something about a fiancé," said Zomberella. She passed a sly smile to Susan, as if they were two girls in high-school discussing about the cutest of the boys. Susan couldn't help but smile back, even if it was just a faint curve of the lip. "Oh come on..." she said slyly. "What's he like?" It had been a long time since Zomberella was able to have a conversation like this, but she figured that Susan would be a natural with these.

"Well..." started Susan, tilting her head to the side and resting her cheek on her knee. "His name's Derek... he works as a weatherman on Channel 172 and he's the most romantic, handsome and caring guy I've ever met..." Her whole face seemed to light up at the thought of him. "I love him more than anyone else in the whole world... and I know that he's probably worried sick about me by now..."

Zomberella smiled, leaning back on her palms and kicking her dangling legs. She could relate with her for sure... "Preach it, sister," she said softly, getting lost in her own thoughts.

The two girls sat there, wistfully dreaming for something they couldn't have. Whether it be because they'd never get to see him again, or because the rules of friendship stood strong and proud, they couldn't quite reach them just yet. Closing her eyes, Zomberella thought back to the lost dreams that she had spent thinking of Dr C, while Susan thought of those small moments she had spent with Derek. But both girls shared the same problem... the moments they loved to play over and over were all beauties of the past. They had no idea what was to become of their future.

At this thought, Susan turned to Zomberella. "How long have you been here?" she asked suddenly, nerves hinting in her tone.

Zomberella didn't want to answer, for she knew it would put Susan off once more. "Roughly... eight years..." she said quietly.

Susan swallowed. "And the guys?"

Zomberella hesitated once more. "Almost fifty."

There was this silence that seemed to destroy the peace they had tried so hard to create. It was slow and ancient, not allowing any sign of happiness come between them. It was truth. This sad, cold truth that stung the two girls like electric fencing on a summer day. "We're... we're not getting out of here... are we?" asked Susan. "We're monsters... we don't get to go out..."

Zomberella stopped waving her legs, slowly coming to a stop. "... I don't know..." she finally said. "Monger – the General," she corrected, "I think he wants our freedom, though he may not show it... hopefully he's fighting out for us..." She highly doubted it, but the thought was comforting. "And from the looks of it, more and more monsters are out there... they can't keep us all in the one facility. One day, hopefully not too far away, we're going to get out..." She turned to Susan, who seemed to improve from the speech. "We'll be free one day... one day..." she repeated. "I can feel it."

There was something rather mystic that came from her words, the feeling improved by her ghostly white eyes. This magic feeling seemed to wrap around them and this warm feeling of support and comfort replaced the stale taste of truth.

Susan smiled at her, making Zomberella beam even more. "So... Wendy," she said, saying her name for the first time. "I know it sounds... kinda weird... but... what are you guys?"

Zomberella had to admit, she admired Susan's ability to adapt. "Well where do I start?" she asked.

Susan paused, thinking it over. "What was the blue...thing... BOB," she suddenly remembered. "What exactly is BOB?" she asked.

"BOB is what happens when you experiment with your dinner-plate," answered the zombie. Susan gave a light laugh, a mere chuckle made of air and music, and Zomberella laughed along with her. "Apparently he was a tomato injected with ranch dressing and just mutated into... well, into BOB. He's pretty thick, but he's really lovable."

Susan smiled once more, which seemed like a sweet miracle at the time. "And what about the guy on my face?" she paused, trying to remember the name. "Lyle?"

"Oh, Link? Yeah, his full name is 'the Missing Link', since he's the step between fish and monkey, but that's a bit of a mouthful. He was frozen in ice about 20 000 years ago, and defrosted about fifty years ago before he went on a run through Coco Beach. He's a bit desperate for girls, so you might want to mention Derek and scare him off."

Susan laughed again. "I'll keep that in mind," she said, revealing her set of precious white teeth. "And who's the beetle-...person... that I tried to squish?" she asked. "I'm really sorry about that, by the way! It was just a nervous reaction..." she apologized quickly.

"It's okay, he'll live," she replied. "That's Doctor Cockroach, he was mutated in an experiment in the 1960's and has been here ever since. He's the only person here with a brain, really, and he keeps making up escape plans for us... they don't really end up working, but oh well."

This time, Susan was the one with the rather sly smirk. "Are you and Doctor Cockroach...?"

Zomberella blinked, the smile dropping. "What? No! Why?"

Susan shrugged, looking away quickly. "Nothing, I just thought... never mind," she said, turning back with another small smile. After a few moments of silence, where Zomberella scolded herself for being so obvious about this crush of hers, Susan piped up once again. "What about you?" she asked. "Why are you in here?"

Zomberella sighed, resting her head on her palms and leaning forward. "I don't really know where to start..." she said with a chuckle. "I died during an explosion at a nuclear plant I worked at, and then this guy I knew dug me up and kick-started the energy in me. The government found me and...Well, I've been here for eight years now."

Susan's eyes widened. "You're dead? I thought you were a possessed doll or something..."

"I'm called 'Zomberella' for a reason," she explained. "I'm the only known zombie to exist in the world... Why did you think that I'm a doll?"

Susan shrugged. "The stitches, I guess..." she said, looking at her in a whole new light. "So... let me get this, you're _dead_?"

"More or less."

"Wow..." she said in awe. "Do you remember anything?"

"More or less," repeated Zomberella. "Just a flash of green, a lot of pain, darkness, and then dirt in my eyes."

Susan peered at the strange white orbs that rolled inside her sockets. "Can you see clearly?"

"Surprisingly, yes," she replied. "I can actually see a bit clearer in the dark than I could before I died, so yay." Susan smiled, a genuine smile, before looking around at her surroundings in a mixture of fear and awe. There was still some panic inside of her as her own eyes searched the dark for hope.

"Do you mind if I... just have some peace for a while? I need to think this all over," she said quietly, but not with the same worried tone that she had when Zomberella had first crashed into her cell.

The zombie nodded, and with a slight smile, she walked back to her treadmill, the doors beginning to close. "See you 'round, Susan," she called. "I'm here if you need me."

"Hello?" Dr C called through the wall. "Wendy? Yoo-hoo!?" he called, knocking on the metal. She couldn't seem to hear him, but he could still hear something faint through the walls. She was talking to someone, he heard that much. But... who? "Do you have any spare uranium on you? I'm all out and I-"

"...he was frozen in ice about 20 00 years ago, and defrosted about fifty years ago before he went on a run through Coco Beach. He's a bit desperate for girls, so you might want to mention Derek and scare him off."

That was Wendy, for sure, but there was another set of laughter, another woman's. Oh right, Susan. He had almost forgotten about her, but the bruises on his back still held the memory. "And who's the beetle- ...person... that I tried to squish?" she asked. "I'm really sorry about that, by the way! It was just a nervous reaction..." A slight smile came to Dr C as he heard the apology faintly, but it seemed to him like it was as clear as the stars at night. It was good to know that she

"It's okay, he'll live," replied Wendy. "That's Doctor Cockroach, he was mutated in an experiment in the 1960's and has been here ever since. He's the only person here with a brain, really, and he keeps making up escape plans for us... they don't really end up working, but oh well."

"Are you and Doctor Cockroach...?" asked Susan, who sounded very interested what was going on between them. Something inside of the scientist's chest leap to his throat, and he choked on his breath for a reason unfamiliar to him.

"What? No! Why?"

...

...

He didn't really know how to react...

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**CrazyA: **OMG! I hope you guys liked it! And remember, tell me about ANY websites for the Mutant Pumpkins special and please, PLEASE send in a review


	17. Pity

**CrazyA: **HELLO EVERYBODY! Merry Christmas!!

**DrC: **Yes, yes, Happy Holidays to all of our beloved readers! We both hope you enjoy your holidays, whether you be in Summer or Winter seasons!

**CrazyA: **This chapter was a struggle to write for me, purely because I didn't have much in the way of ideas or inspiration to continue it. But, I think that the ending is pretty good and it sort of develops the story in some way. Also, DrC/Susan fans are going to LOVE IT!!

**DrC: **So we hope that you enjoy the new chapter and have a very jolly New Year! Please read and review!

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**17. Pity  
**'_**He was always there to help her,' **__– She Will Be Loved, _Maroon 5

Dreams were always a right load of laughs when it came to Zomberella.

She was in a small house, more than likely in a forest from the way that fairytales went, but to be incredibly specific she was in a tiny kitchen that was in need of a good clean. There were spider-webs in the corners of the room and many scattered pots and dishes that were cluttered on the counters. She looked down at her outfit, finding herself in a pair of overalls and a strange pair of curled shoes, and shrugged.

"At least it isn't ruffled..." she muttered. After thirty-one years of dreaming up princesses, she got tired of those ruffled dresses she seemed to end up in. Her mind changed completely as she looked up, hearing a strange bang coming from beyond the kitchen. She slowly made her way out of the room, opening the wooden door with a 'creak', and peered around the frame to see the startled faces of BOB, Link and Doctor Cockroach.

Great. Nothing romantic for once. This was almost considered a miracle to Zomberella.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at them all closely. They were dressed in similar outfits to herself: Dr C in overalls over his turtle-neck, Link in just overalls, and BOB with a strange elf-cap with a jingling bell at the end. They were all standing in a small room, with a fairly large door before them. They were probably in the first room of the house, and the carved wooden entrance was separating them from the outside.

"There's someone at the door," replied Link quietly, a hint of fear in his voice.

Zomberella blinked, staring at the doorhandle curiously. "And we should be scared…why now?"

"Because no one can find us!" reminded Dr C.

"So why is someone here now?" asked BOB loudly.

"Exactly!" yelled back Dr C in a frustrated tone.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" reminded Zomberella. "So let me get this straight," she whispered. "We're terrified because someone we don't know is knocking on the door, correct?"

"Yep," replied Link.

"If that's it, then I'm opening the door," she said with confidence before marching over to the door and pulling it right open while ignoring their protests. "You guys really shouldn't- WHAT THE HECK!?"

Before her was a giant pair of feet, which were covered with what appeared to be white stockings and black shoes, and as she looked upward she could see that whoever was in front of her was dressed in a classic Snow White outfit (she did her best not to look up their skirt.)

"Hello?" called the woman before her. "Is anybody there?" Zomberella gazed upward, only to see the bright blue eyes of Susan looking back at her. She really was Snow White, with her fair hair almost seeming to glow in the sunlight. Beauty almost seemed to be exaggerated here in Dreamland.

"Hey, Susie!" called out Zomberella, still staring up at the giantess. "Are you okay?"

Susan spotted the zombie and crouched down on her knees, closer to her height (but still about 18 feet taller than her.) "Oh, hello!" she said brightly before her face saddened once more. "I don't want to intrude, but my wicked step-mother is chasing me through these forests and I simply must hide from her!"

Zomberella scrunched up her face in confusion, looking around at her surroundings. Sure enough, they were in a forest with tall trees that reached up to Susan's shoulders in glorious shades of green. There were even a few fluttering birds that swooped through the trees in shades of bright red and blue.

"Wow," she muttered. She turned to Susan once more, looking up at her and sighing. "Look, we can try and hide you, but it might be a bit hard..." she explained, turning to face the miniscule cottage that she and the monsters shared. "We've got a pretty small house, and... well..." She was interrupted sharply as the ground began to tremble and vibrate beneath them in short bursts. Before too long, they could hear a terrible roar as loud footsteps approached them and they could see (and hear) distant trees being crushed and thrown down in the monster's path.

"Oh no!" suddenly gasped Susan. "My mom's coming!"

Zomberella's head snapped from the trees in the distance to Susan's terrified expression. "That's your _mom_?! Seriously!?"

Susan gave no reply, merely hiding her face in her hands as the trembling became more violent and the stomps of this strange creature came louder and louder. One of the taller of pine-trees, one that stood above the others in the forest, was tossed aside easily like a toothpick and knocked down several of the trees before the two monster-ettes. Another loud roar seemed to echo through the dream-world, and dust from the ground flew into the air and created a mist of dirt and sand particles that hid the grotesque creature. But as the dust returned to the earth and the monster could be seen...

"...no way..." muttered Zomberella.

Insectosaurus stood there, in all his glory, and his buck-toothed smile was lined with a deep shade of purple lipstick. He roared a terrifying roar, but Zomberella stood below him (or her, she wasn't entirely sure now) with a stupid grin on her face.

"..." She turned from the giant bug to her frightened princess, who was still looking up at Insecto with nothing but fear in her eyes and throughout her paralysed body. She turned back to Insecto, taking in the super-gloss shine in his lipstick, and then turned to the three cowards behind her who were still staring up in awe at the colossal bug.

"... What the toast?!"

She woke up with a start, her sides beginning to ache, as she realised she was almost having a giggling fit in her sleep. As her eyes slowly blinked into life and she rubbed the sleep out from her eyes, she still kept that same silly smirk as she thought about Insecto's deep lavender lips. And, now that she thought back to it, she could swear that he was wearing mascara, too.

Just as she finished getting changed from her pyjamas, she heard the red alarm above her bed ring for breakfast. She smiled, but it faded as she heard someone squirm in the room next door. Susan. She looked up from her shoe-laces (which she was trying not tie her fingers up in as well) and to the wall that separated the two girls. Zomberella had almost forgotten about the facility's latest discovery, and she could imagine that the poor girl was freaking out about this new alarm. And then, as the room fell once more, she could hear a loud gasp from next door just as she fell, one that only raised more doubts about Susan's getting-used-to-ness. But soon, she landed with a 'thud', and the rush of air that seemed to rush through the room seemed to cease as the large metal door before her opened up.

Zomberella ran outside into the main hall just as the cells of the others were starting to open, including Susan's. She halted for a moment as the door opened, and she peered into the dark to look for Susan. There was a squeak and a slight moan as the giant stood, ducking slightly and blinking as she stepped out into the bright lights of the hall once more. She saw her table once more, with another mass of porridge and spoon, and gave a sad sigh. But as she took her first step towards the breakfast, a voice yelled out to her.

"Susan, wait!" screamed Zomberella, dodging the footstep quickly and avoiding being crushed... just.

Susan looked down and, gasping, backed away from Zomberella. "Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ sorry!! I-I didn't mean to-"

"Nah, it's cool," replied Zomberella casually. "Insecto has accidentally stepped on me a few times, so... yeah, I'm alright."

"Insecto?" asked Susan, looking rather puzzled. Something flashed inside her mind and all of a sudden she realised who her tour-guide was on about. "Oh, the giant bug... I forgot to ask you about him, by the way."

"Well..." started Zomberella, preparing herself for a long speech on the 300-ft bug. "... He's a giant insect, there's not really much to it. If you want more details about him, I suggest you talk to Link. He's the closest friend Insectosaurus has in here."

"Alright," replied Susan. The two walked over to their tables calmly and started to sit themselves down, Susan reaching hers first because of her long strides. She stared at the porridge for about half a minute before picking up the spoon that was buried half-way in the meal and looking at the first glum dollop of her new favourite meal for the next forever.

Zomberella looked up at the giant and smiled at Susan's curious staring-contest with the seven-foot-long spoon. "Susie, this isn't a mental hospital. They don't poison the food with ground-up pills or drug the water or anything like that. It's just porridge."

Susan looked away from her spoon to the zombie, then back to the utensil. She shrugged and slowly took her first mouthful of prison food, squeezing her eyes shut to prepare for a horrid taste of sour medication. But no, nothing but the taste of cooked oats and its usual mushed texture. She swallowed it proudly and looked back to Zomberella, who was still waiting it out for her own breakfast-brain. "It's... not that bad..." she replied to the zombie's expecting smile.

"See? Told you," she replied. "If there IS anything that you have to look out for in this place, then I'll warn you about it, okay?" Her voice was calm and reassuring, and the smile she kept was one of honesty. Susan nodded, giving a slight smile back, but her expression faded to one of nerves as she heard someone flap his way towards the two of them.

"Morning, ladies!" called out Link in his cockiest tone. "You two sleep alright?"

"Yeah, like a log," replied Zomberella, watching as Link sat himself down at the head of the table. The two monsters turned to Susan, who was fidgeting with her porridge, unsure of what to do around the two friends. "What about you?" asked the 'green doll' calmly.

Susan smiled weakly, still playing with her porridge. "Um... alright... I mean, I woke up a few times in the night, but..." She ended there, drifting off into silence. The awkward emptiness of the room seemed to echo around them, as Link, Susan and Zomberella fidgeted in the chairs.

"Susan and I were just talking about Insectosaurus," said Zomberella to fill up this silence. "Any chance that we can piggy-back him today?" By piggy-back, she meant climbing up the giant bug by grabbing fist-full's of his fur. It was a skill the two monsters had been practising together, with Link teaching Zomberella, over the past eight years. It was a challenge for her, as she wasn't the most athletic person and had close to know idea how to get a firm grip on such soft fur, but Susan had larger hands and less to climb because of her height, she might've been alright for the skill.

"Sure, if he's up for it," replied Link. He looked up at Susan, who was staring down at the two of them curiously. "What about you? Did you want to get up close with Insecto?" he asked. "I'll teach you if you like."

"Um... I'll think it over," she replied.

"Good afternoon, guys!" yelled out BOB as he slid his way over to the three monsters. Zomberella smiled at him, thankful that BOB wasn't the sort of person who'd be caught in an awkward silence. He suddenly looked up at Susan, who was staring back at the mass of oozing blue curiously, and dropped what they all guessed was a jaw. "Woah! You're really tall!!" he yelled, pointing at Susan.

"Way to state the obvious, BOB," muttered Link.

"Good morning, BOB," replied Zomberella warmly.

"Did you manage to get some sleep?" asked Susan quietly, trying to say as far away as possible from the awkward silence as Zomberella was. The zombie quickly looked at Susan with a smile, showing her that she was getting it, and returned to BOB.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" said BOB enthusiastically. "I dreamt that I was a really tall horse, with wings and pants and six eyes and those little things that come out of Doctor Cockroach's head, whatever they're called, and I dreamt that I was a horse!!"

Susan blinked, wondering what was going to spew from his mouth next, but smiled when it remained closed. "That's... awesome," she replied.

"I know, right!" said BOB as he slid himself through the metal table and to his seat on the other side.

"BOB, I've told you before, they're called 'antennae'," said another monster as he walked out of his cell and towards the others. Doctor Cockroach appeared, looking rather run-down for some unsaid reason, and he walked around Link to his spot facing Zomberella. "So, how did we all sleep?" he asked exhaustedly.

"Better than you, Doc," answered Link. "What happened?"

Dr C shrugged, giving a slight sigh. "A rough sleep, that's all it is..." he said, adding some optimism into his words. He turned to Susan, looking up at her with a tired smile. "How are you, my dear? Are you still homesick?"

"O-Only a little bit," lied Susan. She went silent just as she tried to think over her next question, afraid that she would create a fiasco with the scientist by bringing it up again. "Doctor... are you mad about what I did yesterday?" she asked quietly. "Because I'm _really_ sorry and I didn't mean to hurt you or anything like that..."

"Oh no, no, no, of course not!" he said, cheering up slightly. "It's not that at all! I know that you're sorry and I forgive you completely! You were only startled, you had no intention on crushing me," he said calmly.

Susan smiled at him warmly, picking up another spoonful of porridge from the mass on her table. "Thankyou," she said quietly. "You have no idea how guilty I felt for that..." she said, looking right into his eyes.

Zomberella smiled at the two of them, glad that they were getting along well and that he wasn't planning on how to destroy her. Just as the thought occurred, a siren above them all echoed in the room and Link's pile of fish fell from above once more. Everyone at the smaller table seemed to light up at that point, knowing that they were going to eat at last. One by one, each monster got their meal, and everyone began to silently tuck in (the only noise being everyone's munching on different types of food and the sound of Insecto's roar when he made it to the scene.)

"So," said BOB, looking up at Susan. "Why are you here, anyway?"

The giant, who was twirling her spoon around in circles on her table, dropped the utensil with a thud and passed a sad smile to him. "I thought that would be obvious by now..." she said, looking across the room to the mass of blue.

"I think what BOB means," interrupted Dr C, "how did you become... this?" he asked, gesturing to Susan's height with a torn slipper before eating the piece of footwear.

Susan stayed silent, feeling that the spotlight was, officially, on her. She didn't really want to think back to what happened, it only brought back memories of her parents standing in shocked silence as their baby girl burst through the local church roof. Her eyes quickly scanned to Zomberella, who was waiting with equal patience as the others with a look of guilt and pity.

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to," she reassured her. But the way that the monsters were looking up at her with bright, awaiting eyes and Insectosaurus sent out a comforting roar that startled Susan, she felt that she was able to tell them.

"It was on my wedding day," she started, trying not to choke on the pressure deep in her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, Zomberella could swear that Link was kicking himself for flirting with her yesterday. "I had just gone for a breath of fresh air, trying to get away from all the panic that was going on in the church... and then... this _meteorite_ comes and crushes me into the ground.

It all went dark for a few minutes, and I could feel this... _rush_... of something... go through my body. Then I heard Mom calling for me, so I crawled out from beneath this giant rock and she drags me inside, trying to rub the dirt and grass off of my wedding-dress. So I walk up to the altar, waiting for my fiancé, Derek, to lift off my veil. As soon as he did, he just stared at me and told me that I was... 'glowing.'

At first, I'm thinking how sweet he is to tell me that, but then he suddenly starts yelling about my skin. My whole body is radiating with this weird green glow and my hands are growing into the size of baseball-gloves before I can even figure out what's going on. I just start... _growing_... until suddenly I crash through the roof and see all these men in black running around and trying to pin me down.

So all I can think of is where Derek has gone and I start to search for him... I find him beneath these planks of wood and I pick him up, careful not to let him slip through my now _massive_ hands, and then suddenly he's slipped from my grasp and falling to the ground, only to be saved by the guys in black. So just as I'm telling them to leave him alone, they grab these hooks and start pinning me down to the floor, only for me to stand up and shake them off.

And then this guy has the _nerve_ to shoot me with this tranquilizer dart, which I throw back at him after I'm hit. Then... things got a little blurry... and I remember falling to the ground with this massive 'thud' and reaching out to Derek..." Susan was on the verge of tears by this point, and she attempted to rub them out of her eyes with minor success. "But then I can't find him anyw_here_," she continued, her voice cracking. "And then I wake up here with you guys..."

Everything that everyone had done to try and avoid an awkward silence had crashed into the mountain-side and set the whole thing alight. They sat in the quiet, not knowing what to say or what to tell Susan. The giantess rested her face in her hands, not allowing the other to see the tears that streamed her cheeks. Zomberella looked around awkwardly at her friends before ducking her head in guilt and looking down at the remaining goo on her plate. Susan was the bubbliest, most pitiful thing that the monsters had encountered in _years_, and they had no idea how to act around her.

But someone did.

He stood slowly, his chair squeaking across the metal of the floor, and walked towards her table. He quickly scurried up the stand of her table, pulling himself over the edge, and stood there quietly before speaking up.

"Susan..." he said quietly. "Believe it or not, but I understand how it feels to lose someone you loved... I know that... it _hurts_, and that it feels like you've lost this sense of hope and reason, but..."

Susan revealed her face, running a hand through her white hair and resting her damp cheek on her open palm. She stared at him, intrigued and with tears and her eyes, and swallowed. "'But' what?"

Dr C smiled up at her, putting on the brave face, and said clearly and simply: "It will heal. It takes time, yes, but it _will_. And we're all here to help you until you see Derek again, and even after that..."

Susan smiled for a moment, but the name of her fiancé caused her to panic. "But will he want to see me... like this?"

"Of course!" replied Dr C quickly. "If he loves you as much as you love him, then he will. And I'm positive that he does. Besides, it's a very simple condition, there must be a cure out there for you, one that I'm willing to help find you."

Susan tilted her head further to the side, smiling at the scientist, and rested her hand on the table. "Thank you, Doctor Cockroach..." she said quietly, saying his name for the first time.

He smiled and, slowly, he reached out a hand to hers, gently petting her thumb-nail to calm her sense. She giggled, revealing all her white teeth, and sniffed back her tears. It was the first human contact that she had in almost two days, and yet it came from a mad scientist that was part cockroach. Life was rather quirky like that.

Zomberella, who was still looking up at the two of them from her table with BOB and Link, smiled with relief. In previous situations, best friends used to quarrel with each-other, as she was usually friends with people from different groups and social areas, and she used to break up with a lot of friendships because of this. But this pair of friends was so... _unbelievably different_, and yet from the way they had just opened up to one another like this...

...she could tell they were going to get along quite nicely.

* * *

**CrazyA: **So, again, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and have enjoyed the latest chapter! Now just wait while I struggle with the next chapter! And please, PLEASE review with honest feedback on what you think about ACAS! (I'm worried about how I write Susan down, so any tips will be greatly appreciated!)


	18. Say 'Huh?

**CrazyA: **I warned you that you'd have to wait, didn't I?

**DrC: **YOU LEFT US FOR THAT BLASTED WITCHDOCTOR!!!!!

**CrazyA: **Awww.... Doc, I love you to bits... but Keith David has a voice that makes moutains melt... You know, in a fangiry, awesome way...

**DrC: **Good Point... Anyway, we hope you enjoy the latest chapter! Please, read and review!

* * *

**18. Say 'Huh'?  
****_'Small town homecoming queen, she's the star in this scene. There's no way to deny she's lovely, perfect skin, perfect hair, perfumed hearts everywhere.' – _**_Girl Next Door, _Julie Roberts

It had been roughly two days since Doctor Cockroach had agreed to help study Susan's condition and he still couldn't think up of anything that he could do to attempt and cure her. Now two days may seem like a reasonably short time, but in the facility it seemed like a week, especially if you had nothing else to do except think up ideas. So the scientist was getting rather upset with himself over this. Usually he'd be able to think up of something in a snap, but over the last few days he'd been distracted...

Zomberella, oblivious to what was _really_ going on inside his mind, was grabbing another fistful of Insectosaurus's peach-gold fur and climbing further up the bug. She had more skill than she did eight years ago, but she still didn't like looking down as she climbed. However, Link was still supporting her as she climbed up no matter how skilful she would become.

"Hurry it up, sunshine!" he called out to her from Insecto's nose. "We haven't got all day!"

Insecto roared at Link before looking back down at Zomberella and giving a gentle growl.

She smiled up at his massive gold eyes and pulled herself a bit higher up. "Thanks," she replied, having a feeling that the gentle giant was comforting her. "I still need some work, but..."

"What are you talking about?"

Zomberella didn't need to look down to know that the other giant of the facility (and her best friend) was directly below her. "You're doing great! I know _I_ wouldn't be able to do that!" Susan was still rather naive when it came to knowing her true strength, as it _was_ only four days when she had been struck by the meteor and it had taken Zomberella a near _month_.

But the zombie still blew a raspberry, taking another fistful of fur and pulling herself higher. "Yeah, right, Susie," Zomberella replied. After a few more grunts and strains, she managed to pull herself up the last few metres of Insectosaurus's chest and, with some assistance from Link, up onto the giant's nose.

"Nice job," said the fish-beast. After a Cheshire grin from Zomberella, Link turned down to see Susan's bright eyes looking up at the two of them in curiosity. "Are you sure that you don't wanna come up here, Susan?"

"Uh..." Susan looked up at the massive creature before her, staring at how high up her two friends were from just Insecto's nose. "I-I'll pass... Maybe I can do it some other time?"

"Yeah, whatever..." replied Link, feeling rather rejected. It was difficult to try and make friends with the girl, he didn't really know how to act around her. Whenever he asked her to join in something, she always turned him down. As if she wasn't interested in wrestling or bug-climbing or cards or anything! All she wanted to do was either talk to Zomberella or Doctor Cockroach, and even all that was about getting out of the prison or her old plain-as-dish-water life.

Zomberella glared at Link, watching as he crawled up between Insectosaurus's eyes and onto the bug's skull. She rolled her own eyes in time with Insecto's as the bug let out another frustrated roar at Link. The zombie laughed at the bad-ittude of the bug and looked back down at Susan, who seemed slightly put off by Link's rough reply.

"Hey, did you want to at least give this big teddy a hug?" she asked her, smiling almost from ear to ear.

Susan smiled shyly and looked cautiously at the giant stomach of fuzz in front of her before glancing up at Insecto's dorky smile. "Is... that okay?" she asked him. The giant fuzz-bucket roared in delight, making Susan's smile glow, and she slowly stretched out a hand to the warm inch-thick fur of Insecto. Softly and slowly, she ran her fingers through the fur and pet the warm peach-fuzzed skin beneath. She giggled as the giant purred like a skyscraper-sized kitty and yet she rubbed his chest vigorously as if he were merely the neighbourhood dog. "He's a little cutie!" she said brightly.

Link rolled his eyes, pretending to vomit all over the tangerine fur of Insectosaurus. Zomberella spotted him and dug her elbow in his side, glaring at him. "Play nice!" she hissed at him before looking back over to Susan. It was a pretty far fall from where she was, but Susan looked like she was a good catch... "Hey, Susie! Can you catch?"

Susan looked up, her face scrunched in confusion but a smile on her face. "You're kidding, right?" she said, laughing at her friend. But Zomberella wasn't joking... She took a few good paces backward, Link watching her wide-eyed and in all jaw-dropped-wonder, before taking a good long run across the top of Insecto's fuzzy skull...

Doctor Cockroach, 350 feet below Link and Zomberella, was busy trying to both continue his project _and_... entertain BOB.

"So I told the bouncing hedgehog, 'You can't control me!!' and he _totally_ panicked. And then he gave me my ball back and we ran around and chased giant marshmallows and we had the best hot bath ever!!"

"BOB, please!" hushed Dr C. "I need to think up a way to get Susan back to her normal size _and you're not exactly helping!_"

"Haha... sorry, Doc..." replied BOB with a goofy chuckle. "I won't talk anymore, pinkie-promise!"

Dr C stared him down, making sure he kept that promise, and then strayed back to his notepad that was currently filled with senseless scribbles. Around his ankles were several scrunched-up notes and sketches on yellowed lines of paper, failed first-tries of what he could come up with. Susan was a very sweet girl and he felt terrible if he let her down...

BOB, however, was watching what was happening on the other side of the room. First Susan was patting Insectosaurus with Wendy and Link up on the buggy's head, but then Wendy disappeared... Wait! She's back! And she's running up to say 'hi'!

"HEY!! DOWN HERE WENDY!" he yelled out.

"BOB, _PLEASE!!_" snapped Dr C, scrunching up another page of failure and throwing it into the blue mass.

"WOW! I DIDN'T KNOW WENDY COULD FLY!!!!"

"BOB WILL YOU – wait a minute, what?!?"

Sure enough, Zomberella had leapt from the top of Insectosaurus and was falling very quickly and very loudly towards a nervous Susan who was trying to hold her hands above her head in order to catch the free-falling zombie.

"WENDY!"

"Oh my gosh! Gotta catch her gotta catch her gotta catch her!!!" screamed Susan as Zomberella started coming closer towards her, a massive grin on her face.

"BEST IDEA EVEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!" screamed the zombie as she fell with her arms outstretched like a cartoon star falling from the sky. She closed her eyes tightly, the rushing wind flying through her hair and eyelashes. She didn't really know why she did stupid stuff like this... maybe it was because the adrenaline rush that went through her brain... It was like her replacement for a heartbeat... But it was all a rush that was over in ten seconds and she landed on the soft but hard surface of Susan's right palm.

"Why did you do that?!" asked Susan, reminding Zomberella of her mother. "What if I didn't catch you?"

The green girl laughed, sitting up in the groove of Susan's curled fingers. It was big enough for her to sit in comfortably, about the size of her old run-down car, but she still felt a little nervous from the way Susan's hand was shaking so much. "I knew you'd catch me," replied Zomberella. "Plus, it was really fun! I've done stuff like this before with BOB, and I wanted to see if I could have some fun with you, too!"

Susan smiled, sighing slightly as she tried to calm down. "Must be some adrenaline rush, huh?" she asked, not helping but smiling.

"Of course!" replied Zomberella. "You don't get to do crazy stuff like that back in Nocturne, that's for sure. It's pretty scary sometimes, but I guess that's what makes it fun!"

Susan chuckled and awkwardly bent her elbow back and put her hand to her neck, as if she were trying to throw a shot-put. Zomberella slid from the curls of the giant's fingers and onto her shoulder, gripping onto the thick fabric of Susan's collar and a soft white lock of her hair. "By the by, how do you keep your hair so nice?"

"Oh, you know... scrub, rinse, repeat, I guess!"

Link, who was listening in on the conversation, felt like vomiting. So before the girls could get into too many feminine details, he cast them back to the stunt 'ella pulled. "Nice dive, Zomberella!" he called out, making her head turn from Susan's right cheek to Link's toothy grin. "Gotta work on style a little more, though!"

She laughed at his critique, sticking out her tongue immaturely. "You're just jealous 'cause it looked awesome from up there!"

Insecto growled in agreement, rolling his large gold eyes up to Link and giving another goofy smile. Link chuckled, his eyes straying over the giantess's shoulder to the two figures below them. "Did you want to ask BOB for his opinion?"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!" yelled the mass of blue, his jaw dropped to the ground and sliding away from him. "Can I try it?!"

Susan turned, pushing her hair back behind her ear carefully so that Zomberella could talk to the blob. She laughed, gripping harder into Susan's shirt so she didn't fall as the giant's shoulders shook with giggles. "Sure! Jump to the ceiling and then just let go!"

"Can he do that?" asked Susan in a whisper.

"Sure! He may be a bit dumb sometimes, but he's got some pretty cool moves! Just watch," replied Zomberella quietly. "It's really fun, BOB! Just give it a shot!" she encouraged him once more.

BOB, laughing, shot the upper-half of his body to the ceiling, stretching out like a piece of taffy until the bottom of him ended up flying to the ceiling with the rest of him. Susan laughed, new to BOB's ability, and Zomberella gave him the thumb's-up. BOB smiled and lost his suction on the cold grey ceiling, falling like a giggling raindrop as he laughed his way to the floor. He landed with a thickly-burdened 'PHLUT' right before Susan's feet, still laughing his heart out.

"And this, Susie, is where I get off," said Zomberella quickly, letting go of the shirt and taking a few running-steps down Susan's collar-bone before jumping off and doing another dive. Susan just watched nervously, not knowing if she should stop her friend but more confident than she was before as she didn't have to catch her this time. Zomberella closed her eyes, the rush of air through her brown locks sending her crazy, until she finally landed stomach-first on BOB's blue mass. He folded around her like a beanbag, laughing with her as she slowly slid from him like a cheap plastic slide in the local playground, landing on her lower-back with a smile.

"That was awesome!!" yelled BOB with joy. "Did I look really small from where you were?!"

"Yeah, like gum on the ceiling!" replied Zomberella.

"Awesome!!!"

Dr C, who was still getting over the minor panic-attack of seeing Wendy's first fall, tried to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. But it was quite the challenge with the two talking so enthusiastically right beside him... Why did she have to be such a distraction? He should be happy that he knew the girl so well and leave it at that... If he kept his mind on something else, then maybe this whole thing would blow over. It's just a phase... that's been going for several years now, but...

"You were really, _really_ small when you were on top of Insectosaurus!" replied BOB. "You looked like you were shrunk! You know, at a normal size! Instead of your weird giant one!"

"..." Part of Zomberella wanted to hit BOB, but she simply breathed deeply and exhaled slowly. "BOB, I'm _always_ this size. Susan's the giant, I'm the zombie, remember?"

"Yeah, but you still looked _really_ tiny!" replied BOB. "It was like you were somehow shrunk down by using a series of electric plugs straight into your brain that zapped your DNA or something... But _man_, that would be dumb!"

...

"BOB! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!"

All five monsters turned to see Dr Cockroach leaping from his seat, a massive grin on his face and laughing hysterically. He had the insane, dreamy look in his twinkling gold eyes and was furiously scribbling notes and calculations into notepad.

"... Doc... Are you okay?" asked Link with caution, starting to climb his way down Insecto's stomach.

"Better than that, my friend!" the cockroach replied. "Susan! Susan, I've got the solution!"

The giant crouched down so that she was closer to the doctor, as if that would make any more sense of the situation. "You can make me small again?" she asked excitedly.

"Of course! All I need is a series of electrical plugs that we can connect to your brain in order to re-write your DNA, but I'm sure that I can improvise with a few plungers and some wiring..." explained Dr C, drifting off as he began to think through the materials he'd need.

"You mean, like... toilet plungers?" she asked, her exciemtent turning into nerves.

"I know it sounds a bit odd, but it'll work! Susan, just trust me!"

Wendy stared at Dr C, her mouth open slightly in shock. Eight years ago, he had said something exactly like this. He had the same serious-but-confident expression on his face with this magical sort of spark in his eyes. Some small part of her felt... God, was she _jealous?_ She shouldn't have been, and she knew that. She swallowed, closing her mouth before her jaw broke off entirely. She looked over to the gorgeous-even-when-confused Susan, who bit her lip nervously as she thought it over. Eventually, she smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course I do..." she said, beaming at him. "How long will it take?"

"The machine will take at least two weeks, maybe even _longer_, to build, but I can try out some other ideas in the meanwhile!" he explained. His expression suddenly faltered as he thought through the calculations again. "Um... Susan?"

"Yes Doctor?" she asked in a worried tone.

"Are you a smoker, drinker, regular-party-go-er, suffer from any brain traumas, heart traumas, liver problems, have any history of serious illnesses or cancers through your family and-or are six and a half months pregnant?"

".... No..."

"Excellent! That makes my job a lot easier!"

* * *

**CrazyA: **So I hope you guys don't mind me going back to school... It's going to slow down updates by about... 100%, so I'll hardly get a chance to write. Wah! But, what I do write will be the stuff of legends, so please keep reading. I love you all, and remember to review!!!


	19. Cry

**CA:** I'm so, SO sorry for the late update guys! But I worked really hard to finish this off for you guys and I hope it's worth it! IT. WILL. MAKE YOU CRY. D: True fact.

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**19. Cry  
**_**'If nothing is true, what more can I do? I am still painting flowers for you... I heard everything you said, I don't wanna lose my head.' – **__Painting Flowers, _All Time Low

"What are you thinking?"

Zomberella, dressed in a brilliant gown of yellow silk, smiled until she thought her cheeks would bleed. "Nothing in particular..."

The theme of the evening was Thumbelina, or at least the zombie _thought_ it was as she didn't know many other fairytales that involved her being shrunk down and half the size of a flower-petal. She looked over to her fantasy version of Doctor Cockroach, who was currently dressed in his regular blue officer suit... but... shrunk down... She might have been able to think up weird dream-worlds for herself, but most of the time she either stole them from her childhood movies or just used the same costume over and over.

The couple were seated in the middle of a daisy-patch, probably in some old woman's neatly-cared garden. They lay in the green forest of stems, looking up at where a sky would've been if the petals weren't covering their view. Zomberella could smell the damp soil beneath her hair, but she didn't seem to catch any filth in her brown curls. It was brilliantly perfect here, and part of her never wanted to wake up.

"I'll wake up soon, though..." she said quietly.

Dr C, or at least her imaginary one, heard her. This doctor knew everything about her, including how she felt about him, as he was already a part of her mind. "I know, my dear... But for now, just dream. I'll be here for you, and you know that."

"Yeah... but is it really the same?" she asked, sitting up turning to see him. He was resting his back against a thick daisy stem, watching her lie on the moist dirt in her wistful state. That was really all he seemed to do inside of her head... just listen to her complain about how much of a hassle he was in the real world.

"I mean... You love me and you listen to me and... and _everything's_ perfect, but..." she paused, her words tangling up inside her mouth and coming out as rants and drivel. "But you're not _you_... You're just imaginary, while I'm falling for the you _out there_."

Dream-roach sighed, looking away from her and through the petals of white up above him, trying to find the sky above. It was strange, she was so content with this game for eight years, but now she was beginning to realise what this place actually was. And there wasn't much in the way of changes for her, was there?

"Susan..."

"What was that?"

"Susan?"

"Wendy, are you okay?"

"I think she's fallen asleep..."

"Yoo-hoo? Wendy? Wake up, my dear!"

Zomberella did wake up then, shaking her head and blinking her eyes and sitting up straight. "I'm okay! I'm as alive as I can possibly get!" She was sitting next to Doctor Cockroach (the real one this time) with Susan sitting behind them and sorting through a pile of what looked like... garbage. And in fact, it was. And there was this smell, one of filth and of old, and... As Zomberella sat up, she realised that she'd been sleeping in another pile of garbage-scraps. That would explain the damp soil in her dream... She picked out an eggshell from her hair and gave an inward sigh, her two friends watching with caution.

"You know, Wendy, you're more than welcome to go sleep in your room..." reminded Dr C calmly. "It's been a pretty long day and- Oh, an apple core!!" He dug his hand deep into the pile near Zomberella, finding the half-eaten piece of fruit beginning to chew on the stem.

Zomberella merely smiled, enjoying the quirks of her favourite mad scientist. "I'm fine, really! Just a lil' tired, but I want to help you guys out," she said calmly.

"You sure? I mean... don't do this just because we're your friends," said Susan. "You've been pretty exhausted recently... maybe you _should_ take a rest." For the majority of the day, the three monsters had been searching through a collection of rubbish and gears that Dr C had saved up for his inventions in order to find anything that could be useful for his new invention for Susan. Sorting out individual piles of rubbish, they had currently found a pizza box, a can of hairspray, an old toaster, and a lot of rubber-bands.

"I'm telling you, I'm okay!" she insisted. "What were we talking about before I dozed?"

"Um... I'm pretty sure we were talking about music!" said Susan. She pulled a face at an old back-scratcher in her pile before putting it to the side, keeping it for potential use with several other items that 'grossed her out'. "What sort of music do you guys listen to?"

"Aqua," the two answered in unison, not realising what happened and continuing their search for garbage-gold.

Susan smiled at them, tempted to laugh but just stifling it. _Why aren't they together yet? _"That's the band who did _'Barbie Girl'_, right?"

"Correct," answered Dr C. "I love all their songs, especially _'Roses are Red!"_

"I'm just a techno-dance-pop-electronic-music fan in general," said Zomberella. "What about you Susan?"

"Me?" she said. "Um... I like just about anything that hits the top of the charts... Oh! I'm a major Lady Gaga fan! What about you guys?"

Doctor Cockroach and Zomberella kept quiet, staring up at her in confusion with no idea what to say. "Who?" asked Dr C. "Is that a band?"

"Singer, I think..." explained Zomberella. "What's she like?"

"Wow... you _really_ don't know who she is?" asked Susan. "She's pretty much the latest Britney, but more... how do I put it... more _theatrical_. She wears these really elaborate costumes in all her concerts and has these really good dance-singles, I think you'd like her if you listened to her..."

Zomberella smiled, picking out another can of hairspray from her pile and rubbing off some of the dirt with her sleeve. "Once we get out, we'll listen to her CD, okay?"

"I'll invite you guys over to my house, that you guys can catch up on all the stuff you've missed for the last fifty years!" said Susan excitedly. "Oh! And I'll introduce you to Derek!"

"What's so great about this Derek guy, anyway?" asked Link, who was busy playing cards with BOB on the other side of the room (and cheating as usual thanks to Insectosaurus.)

"Oh, you mean _besides _the fact that he's her fiancé?" said Zomberella sarcastically.

"You know what I mean!" snapped Link.

BOB looked up from his own handful of cards, partly-listening to the conversation. "What _do_ you mean?" he asked, staring at Link in his usual dopey-Bambi-sort-of-way.

Link groaned, slapping himself in the forehead in frustration. With a deep sigh, he managed to think over his words and turn them into something that wouldn't involve sarcasm. "What's Derek like?" he asked at last, relieved to find that no-one was making fun of him now.

Susan sighed, a smile on her face as the spun an old bicycle wheel around the tip of her finger like a miniature hula-hoop. "He's really handsome..." she said wistfully. "And he's a real romantic, too, not just some jock. He takes me out for dinner and treats me like I'm the only girl for him..." she said softly, placing the bike wheel over her ring-finger with a smile. "When he was made the weather-man of our local TV station, he bought me this big bouquet of flowers and we went out dancing!"

"Is it a tough occupation?" asked Dr C.

"Yeah, I guess, but he loves getting out on TV!" said Susan proudly. "He's constantly working on his career so that the two of us can have a stable future together. One day he's going to be a foreign correspondent, and the two of us will travel all over the world together... but hopefully we'll get an apartment together in France!"

"You want to move to France?" asked Zomberella curiously.

"No I don't!" replied and offended BOB. "Why would I go there?"

"Do you even know where France is, BOB?" asked Link.

"No, but it rhymes with 'pants' and that's all I gotta know about it!" replied BOB, shuffling his backwards cards that were clear to Link's view. He slammed a series of threes on the table, a wide grin on his semi-see-through-expression. "Checkmate!"

Shaking her head, the zombie tried again. "Why France?"

Susan shrugged, searching through the garbage pile. "I don't know, really... It's just the romance and the atmosphere of the place... It has such a unique style that I've always loved, and I've always wanted to wake up to the smell of hot chocolate and croissants," she said with a smile. "I've been learning French all my life, and I'm pretty fluent in it, so the only thing I've got to worry about it getting a job there."

"I wish _I_ was that talented. I'm barely getting through enough Japanese for a vacation, let alone a _lifetime_!" confessed Zomberella.

"考えるよりよい、知っている."

Everybody turned at the fluent Japanese, wondering why for once Dr C's accent wasn't English. Being a scientist, he talked to businessmen and fellow researchers from all parts of the world and had to pick up a few basic languages. Zomberella knew most of the details about his well-educated tongue, seeing as he tutored her on a few rare occasions in Japanese (this being one of them), but the others stared at him wide-eyed and wondering what he was on about now.

"Guys..." whispered Link. "Why is the Doc's mouth broken?"

"残念、何を言ったか?"asked the zombie, still struggling with the language and what he was actually saying to her.

"日本語で。考えなさいより多くは…あなたが知っている..."said Doctor C with a smile to the girl. She grinned back, not understanding about half of what he said but getting enough to know what he was talking about.

"権利… しかし私はヘルプを有した、そうですね?" she replied, trying to ignore the blush on her face.

He laughed nervously, both flattered and the fact that her sentence was still detatched. "本当."

"私を日本の数日を持続できる考慮しなさいか."

"私はそれで賭ける."

"WHY ARE MY EARS BROKEN?!?" screamed BOB out of the blue, distracting all of them from the room that was in dire need for subtitles. "WHAT'S HAPPENED TO EVERYONE?! SHOULD WE PANIC?"

"BOB! Stop panicking!" yelled Link with a set of three queens in his wet green hands.

"I CAN'T STOP PANICKING NOW!!" screamed BOB, his pupil shrinking into the red of his eye and threatening to disappear altogether.

But suddenly, a gentle hand of fair skin soothed the blob like a cat by the fire, awkwardly but softly stroking his slimy mass until he was quiet. "Shush... BOB, it's okay..." said Susan in her calmest tone. "I think they're just speaking Japanese..."

"Well, very poorly, but it's Japanese," laughed Zomberella. The blush that covered her face burnt her horribly, as if she were tanning on the Sun itself. She turned her face away from Dr C's and looked back at the pile of garbage in front of her.

Dr C turned away as well, wishing that he could take back everything he said. It was obvious that over the years all the compliments he gave her made her uncomfortable... he should just give up already. There wasn't any point in trying if all that was going to happen was a horrible, awkward mistake.

Zomberella's eyes were starting to close up already. Shaking her head, she stood up in her chair and smiled at Susan and Dr C. "Can you two cover for me?"

"You're calling it a day?" asked Susan.

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "That's okay, right?"

"Go for it," said Link on the other side of the room. "It's not like you have to stay up with us-"

"But we were gonna make marshmellows!" whined BOB, beginning to cry.

Zomberella smiled. "Maybe another time, BOB."

Susan smiled at her, watching the zombie turn and walk away back to her room. "Goodnight, Wendy..." she called out. Dr C stared after her, watching as the green-and-red figure went back to bed, unknown to the fact that Susan was watching him, too. "Do you like her?" she asked quietly.

Dr C turned around quickly, his whole body shaking with nerve s like he'd been electrocuted. "What?!" he asked, his voice breaking. "I-I-I don't! Have you been talking to Link recently?!"

Zomberella stared at the two friends, beautiful Susan and beautiful Doc. Her mouth smiled, but her eyes remained dead inside her skull. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but from the way Susan was smiling sweetly she knew it was something good. He laughed. Loudly. She laughed with him.

...

Her mind at a blank, she fell onto her bed as the great metal doors closed on her. It only took a minute for her to close her eyes and sleep, her head heavy and her mind clouded. She re-awoke in the garden, the warmth of the golden sunlight shone through the tall stretches of green blades, towering over her. But this time the sun was brighter, almost blinding her even when she didn't look into it. And the soft soil beneath her felt colder, damper, and the dirt caught to her feet and turned the green to brown.

"This is getting... weird..." she muttered. Looking around, she found that her yellow dress was faded in colour and the daises that once bloomed around her were wilting. The whole garden was dying, and she couldn't explain why.

He laughed. Loudly. She laughed with him.

Zomberella looked up sharply, pushing past the weeds and trying to see what was going on. Poking her head through the grass, she watched in shock at the two smiling figures. They were far taller than her, but that was only because she was shrunk. In actual fact, they were normal. Gorgeous. Perfect. And normal.

Susan and Dr C were perfect together. She was dressed in a short summer dress of pale blue, making her eyes pop and matching perfectly with the scientist beside her. She had her arms around his neck, staring into his hazel eyes with a look that would make Cupid spit on a topless puppy. The two laughed at each-other, smiling and walking off to somewhere glorious and distant that Zomberella couldn't go. As they walked towards the light, she tried to push from the weeds that had her trapped in the flowerbed of death.

"しかし私は愛する..." she called out, her voice dying.

He turned briefly, letting the platinum-blonde walk ahead into the bright portal of light. Staring at her almost pityingly, he shook his head and walked away.

Zomberella's whole body went limp as the grass around her pulled her back into the mud. She landed with a 'thud' as the filth splattered on her clothing and face, which she didn't bother to wipe away.

She cried, her mouth turning into an empty howl as no sound escaped her. Though tears couldn't fall, rain did. Heavy drops splashed beside Zomberella, soaking her to the bone as she shivered in the dirt. Though she couldn't cry in her dreams, her dreams could cry for her.

* * *

**CA: **YES I WENT THERE AND MADE YOU ALL CRY D:

Okay, time for the Japanese to English translations so that you can make sense and cry about it some more:

_You're better than you think, you know._

_What did you say?_

_In Japanese... you know more than you think_

_Right... But I had help, didn't I?_

_True_

_Reckon I can last a few days in Japan?_

_I'll bet on that_

AND FINALLY TO MAKE YOU ALL CRY

_But I love you_

AREN'T I JUST THE WORST!?!?!??


	20. I'm So Sorry

**CA: **Oh God, I hate myself so f*cking much right now... I do the most horrible, HORRIBLE THINGS to my OCs and make them feel so crappy and emo. Wendy's got to hate me by now... Anyway, newest and possible saddest chapter so far. And BTW...

**DrC: **We're getting closer to the actual plot now!!! Huzzah!

**CA: **So, arm yourself with Kleenex and hold onto your romance-novels, coz it's gonna get messy from here on... READ AND REVIEW!!

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**20. I'm So Sorry  
****_'That boy is a monster (m-m-m-monster), that boy is a monster-er-er-er-er. He ate my heart... (I love that girl) He ate my heart,' _**_– Monster, _Lady GaGa

Zomberella couldn't sleep. If she did then her whole mind would shut down entirely and she'd get only nightmares.

Sitting up in her cold bed, she rubbed her shoulders and tried to keep her dead body as warm as possible. When was the last time she felt like this? The feeling that made her want to pace the floors and scream at walls. That must have been eight years ago... Christmas Eve, year 2000. That was when she had her first breakdown on her feelings for Doctor Cockroach. And the next day her plans messed up completely and she never got around to tell him how he felt.

And now it was too late... far, far too late.

Susan and Dr C were beyond perfect for each-other. Both of them had weddings that never came, they were both intelligent, they were both full of kindness and a yearning for success, and both of them were beyond beautiful and made for each other.

Over the days the three friends experimented on the 50-foot-woman (BOB, Link, and Insectosaurus didn't want anything to do with 'that science weirdness.') Every day, all Zomberella could see was the fact that they were getting closer and closer. He even spoke a few lines of French to her once. She never got to understand what he said to Susan, she had to leave the room.

_ " __Lui a dit encore ?"_

_ "Je n'ai rien à le dire!"_

_ "Menteur. Vous l'aimez!"_

_ "Je ne l'aime pas !"_

Her whole body _ached_. She felt sore. She felt tired. Every day she had to watch the two bond and fall for each-other, even if they weren't realizing what they were doing. The two of them were bullying her without even realizing it. The two of them might as well have leapt at her with an alley with knives and clubs, she'd still feel the same pain.

Part of her was angry at him. The fact that he didn't realize over the eight years chasing after him that she loved him. She just wanted to slap him in the face, shake his shoulders and then kiss him full on the lips so that he got the message. But that would just be weird, even for her. And the only thing that would tell him is that she was a crazy zombie psycho.

Part of her was angry at Susan. As soon as she walked in two weeks ago, the whole prison was set into a frenzy. She was so insanely gorgeous that it just wasn't right for her to be locked up in there with the freaks like Zomberella. And the guys... honestly, who would a person rather have? A girl with height issues or a girl with disease? A girl that won't fit through the front door or the girl that died eight years ago? The girl that was a little on the princess side or the girl that didn't even have soul? It was girls like Susan who got the guys and Zomberella knew this fact like the back of her hand. Susan already had Derek, but for the meantime Dr C would do just as well-

-SLAM

Though it hurt like crazy, she deserved the collision of the wall to her skull. She barely even realized what was going on until the sharp pain in her forehead sent her brain going crazy. She could feel her brain throb at the pain, yelling at her for being such a thick, impulsive bitch.

"Yeah..." she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead. "I deserved that..."

She really shouldn't hate Susan _or_ the Doc. She shouldn't hate _anyone_. Hating someone is an awful thing to concentrate a person's energy and life on. It sucks and it doesn't have any real point. True fact was that she was angry at herself for the fact she never told Dr C how she felt and envious of Susan's fantastic looks. It wasn't those two that were the problem...

...it was her.

Why did she have to worry about this so much? Why did she have to be so jealous of something so sweet and perfect like the relationship of her two best friends? Why did she have to screw up every couple she knows? Why did she have to screw up _everything_ she knew?

She screwed up her whole life. She never bothered to move out of her parent's house. She never bothered to get a decent job. She never bothered to try hard at school and get good grades, barely graduating high-school. Hell, she screwed up her life by nudging the dial just a bit further and causing her own death-

SLAM

As Zomberella rubbed her forehead once more, muttering to herself about the pain, she came to a conclusion about what her body was trying to tell her: Don't blame anyone, not even yourself. If she wanted to do something about this new problem, she had to do something positive for the solution.

Problem: Susan Murphy has a fiancé and was missing him terribly.

Solution: Doctor Cockroach is great shoulder to cry on.

Problem: Doctor Cockroach is in love with Susan Murphy, but is (knowing him) too shy and awkward to do what Zomberella couldn't.

Solution: The girl who couldn't would show him he could.

Problem: Zomberella was, officially, going to lose all chances of being with Doctor Cockroach. She was going to remain heart-broken and miserable for the rest of her life until she one day decided to end her life by stuffing herself with explosives and swallowing a match.

Problem: There wasn't a solution to this oozie.

SLAM

Zomberella slid off her bed, her feet shivering at the sudden cool of the metal tiles. She had to get away from the walls before she thought up another stupid something that would make her slam her skull into the freezing grey panels. Now her head was hurting from both head-banging _and_ stress... Walking to the other side of the room, she searched through the small pile of clothes she had and found her cSquare in the dark. Rubbing her eyes, she put in her headphones and searched through her songs.

Hm... Bambee... she hadn't listened to her in a while. She closed her eyes tight, sitting down cross-legged in the middle of the floor and breathing deeply as she let the melody take her.

There was no point anymore in trying to pretend that she could be more than just a friend. She had to give up and watch him hand the crown to someone else. And she was going to help him hand over that crown without messing it up.

Yes, it was true that Susan had Derek. But over the days, the more Susan talked about him... the more Zomberella hated him. Yes, he sounded amazingly handsome and 'romantic', but he also sounded self-obsessed, work-crazy and not deserving of Susan at _all_. I mean, you have to love someone for their flaws, but... in Derek's case, he was an exception. Susan didn't realize that her guilty crush on Dr C, one that she must have thought could never work out, was more realistic than the relationship she had with Derek already.

And the Doctor _needed_ Susan! He had lost the love of his life, someone that Zomberella assumed to be as sweet, gorgeous and angelic as any cherished lab-assistnat and fiancé of Dr C would be, and he needed to move on. And to help him move on, standing right in front of him and just at 48ft, was Susan. She was exactly the type of girl that the doctor needed in his life, not some punk-electro, Buffy-obsessed zombie.

She had to get a grip on herself and face the dreaded truth that he did not and _would not_ love her...

It was the next day, just after another lunch of prison-quality food, that Zomberella finally decided to confront Dr C. Link had been watching his second-best-friend's face all day from across the table, her sad white eyes and emotionless smile, and recognized it from eight years ago. As he swallowed his last mouthful of fish, he caught Zomberella's eye and stared her down, waiting for an answer. She nodded.

"Well, this has been fun and all..." said Link, not sure on how to leave. There was an awkward sort of silence before he turned to BOB with an over-the top grin. "Hey, BOB! Wanna go play some go-fish?"

"YAY! I told you it was a good game!!" replied the over-excited blob as he slide from his chair and ran over to the separate, smaller table especially brought in for the monsters' card games.

"It's only a good game when you know how to play it!" yelled back Link, getting from his chair and passing Zomberella (who was staring at the remains of her lunch.) Just as he walked past her, her briefly rested his hand awkwardly on her shoulder. It was a silent wish for good luck for whatever she was planning on doing, luck being something that she really needed at the time. She smiled slightly, half-hearted but thankful to have a silent moment before-hand, and watched as the fish-ape walked away with BOB to the other side of the room.

She turned her head to look just a few meters away from her, watching the scientist at work. Dr C was busy with the creation of a computer (so far made from two pizza boxes and several strings of wires) that would hopefully be connected to Susan's brain and DNA and make her shrink when she was electrocuted. Most of the time, the giantess would be standing and watching Dr C in curiosity and awe, constantly asking questions about the safety issues and certainty of the experiment, but she was currently off to have her shower for the day. Zomberella would soon follow once Susan was finished, and she didn't know how long until that would be.

"H-Hey, Doc?" she called out nervously. _Make it fast, 'Ella… make it fast…_

Dr C turned around, a bright and eager smile on his face. "Wendy!" he replied, chuckling nervously as she came to a stand. Her smile fell as she approached him, her fingers nervously twisted in her hands as she tried to keep calm. Looking her up and down, he knew that she wasn't there just for a usual talk. "... What's wrong?"

Sneakers squeaking as she walked across the room, she came to a stop by his side. Zomberella couldn't look him in the eye, choosing instead to turn around with her back to his machine and stare beyond Link and BOB instead.

"I... I know how you feel..."

He froze, his face turning red instantly. She knew? How? He had tried to make it as subtle as he could, trying to constantly hide his feelings but... obviously it wasn't enough. He couldn't really respond with anything intelligent at the moment, so instead he looked down at the blinking pixilated screen he had started to build and tried to avoid her eyes. "...oh."

"Yeah..." she mumbled. "I... I think it's really great... for you, I mean." For just himself? He blinked, his heart falling inside his chest with a lonely sigh and mournful tune. He knew what this was about... and he knew what was to come. But it was a strange choice in words, to be honest... "And... as your best friend, I have to... I have to help you with this."

"Wh-what?!" he squeaked in shock, staring at her wide-eyed and with shrunken gold irises. Where was she going with this thing?! It was bad enough already that she knew, even worse that she was trying to (awkwardly) put it lightly, but what on Earth is was she talking about _now?!_

"I mean..." Zomberella drifted off, not sure how to put it. But she remembered her smile, her brightened eyes and amazing heart, and she knew exactly what she had to do. "Susan's a really great girl, isn't she? And I know that she's really interested in you..."

... So that was it... Helping him meant moving him onto another woman (even if she was taken...) "But she has Derek, doesn't she?" he asked, reminding her briefly of this flaw in her plan.

Zomberella gulped, turning back to Dr C and smiling shyly. "There's always a chance..." she said softly, drifting off to a nightmarish vision of Dr C and Susan being happy together. "And she's totally your type! You two would be great together!" (She only used 'totally' when she was really nervous or really excited... in this case, nervous.)

He smiled at her enthusiasm, nervously drumming his fingers on the pile of pizza-boxes as he thought it over. "You... you really think that?"

She bit her lip and nodded like her skull was possessed by some over-excited ghost... who worked at Disneyland. "I do..." she replied. "I..." _SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT NOW YOU STUPID BIT- _"I'm your best friend, Doc!" she replied, her voice breaking. "And I want to make sure that you're happy, okay?!" Why couldn't her voice stop breaking?! Stop it! Stop it now! She could feel the tears pricking cruelly behind her eyes, teasing her and forcing her to look away.

But how could he be happy knowing this? But he smiled and nodded, acknowledging her help. "Thankyou..." he replied quietly, his voice barely audible. He could see how upset he was making her, but had no idea just how much it killed her inside and for what reason, he just had to imagine it for himself. "Wendy, I don't-"

"I'm sorry, I have to go!" she suddenly said, a plastered grin of off-coloured teeth on her face. Tears already stung at her eyes, and she could feel one drop slowly roll down her cheek as she backed away quickly.

"Wendy, plea-"

"I'm so sorry!" She choked on her voice and fled, running faster than any of the monsters that watched her could. She muffled her sobs in her hands, barely audible to the doctor's antennae as she sprinted to the dark of her room.

Susan, finished from the shower and dressed in a clean new uniform, scratched beneath her wet, grey hair and walked into the room. Watching the tiny red-dressed figure run into her room, she shrugged and assumed that he brain must have been off. Since her voice was so far beneath Susan, she never guessed that Zomberella was crying about, and because of, her. She looked down at Dr C, BOB, and Link, who were all watching the retreating zombie, and crouched down to join them.

"What just happened?" she asked Dr C, as he was the closest one to her and the most understandable and honest one out of the three of them boys. "Did you say anything to her?"

He stared at the closing grey door to Zomberella's room, his eyes bright and shiny with something he didn't want to show. They way she looked at him... in such agony and...disgust... She hated him. She hated what he felt. And yet she still wanted to be friends with him? "... No... I didn't have to."

* * *

**CA: **I'M SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON!!! I can't stop crying right now... Tell me, in all honesty, if this made you guys cry too. Please, PLEASE, read and review!!


	21. And We're Out

**DrC: **So.  
**CrazyA:** So.  
**DrC:** You're back.  
**CrazyA:** ... it's been a year.  
**DrC:** Yes it has.  
**CrazyA:** And... I'm sorry. I really, REALLY am. I've been really distracted with my other self-insert story and my work on my deviantart account-  
**DrC:** WE MISSED YOU!  
**CrazyA:** I MISSED YOU TOO! OH MY GOD, I'M SO SORRY. I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY AND I'M AWFUL AND I'M SORRY. I just really, REALLY hope that you guys like this chapter. Realistically it's going to be very slow for me to update this story, but if you guys are willing to wait for updates and keep subscribing then that's just beautiful.

Oh, it's been so long since I've last said it, but... READ AND REVIEW!

* * *

**21. And We're Out  
**_**'******__We'll make it through. Just stay strong, 'cause you know I'm here for you…' __- __Keep Holding On, _Glee Cast

It's so strange, isn't it? The fact that there was a massive love-triangle going on in a secret, underground prison that was covered up purely by government hush-hush was strange enough. But then let's add the fact that the 'other woman' was nearly 50ft tall, the male lead stuck in the middle of it all was a mutated, half-cockroach scientist (with a habit for evil laughter) and the girl-next-door character was a zombie.

There is no part of that paragraph that was normal, was there?

Oh and did we mention that said zombie liked to dance?

... Nope, nothing normal.

Zomberella, dancing in her corner of the wide silver room, was purely focused on her dancing. Dancing had become a key part of her recovery, which so far was rushing entirely downhill. Dancing made her forget. Dancing made her numb. It made her focus on something fantastic and completely surreal, something she couldn't grasp in her hand.

Link watched from the opposite side of the room, waiting for BOB to order his cards. He knew it'd take a forever waiting, so instead he sent out a high-pitched whistle from across the room. It cut through her breaking head-phones and made her slip up in her step, turning around and facing Link with a surprised expression.

"Lookin' good, Zomberella!" he called out with a grin.

The zombie scowled at him, pausing her music and pulling out her headphones (making sure not to yank off her ears while she was at it.) "Link, as lovely as it is to hear you compliment my form," she said in her poshest and snootiest accent, "try not to do it when I'm _dancing to ABBA!"_

Link blinked. "Who's ABBA?"

Zomberella shook her head. "Never mind, when you get out of here I'll let you find them for yourself." She packed up her cSquare and pocketed it away, her hair brushing over the side of her pale green face so that Link couldn't see her expression. He didn't have to. She'd been wearing the same one for a while now. And after watching her run off to cry in her room, he knew what it was about.

Doc was such an _idiot_...

"You okay there?" he asked.

She looked up, blinking dumbly and looking away for a moment. As if looking for an answer. But she smiled and shook her head calmly. "I'm fine!" she chirped.

Link smiled, but he didn't show all his teeth like he normally did. A liar's smile, that's what it was. The sound of their little grey radio filled the silence awkwardly, the dreary song almost sending Zomberella to sleep. Behind Link, BOB looked up from his cards. His goofy grin warmed up both of the monsters, and he held up his cards in front of his face. Ready to play. "Okay, go!" he said happily. His eyes suddenly noticed Zomberella watching the two of them play. "Hey, Wendy! Wanna play Go-Frog with me and Link?"

Zomberella smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know how to play Go-_Frog_, anyway. But I'm kind of helping out Doc with his new cure for Susan."

Link paused for a second, thinking what she just said over. "Where _is_ Doc, anyway?" he asked.

BOB pointed over Link's shoulder (not realizing that he was showing all of his cards in a fan of black and red as he did so) and grinned. "Hey look! Walking pizza!"

Sure enough, a collection of pizza boxes, bike-pedals, buckets and wires was being carried along by Dr Cockroach from his room, struggling with the weight. Zomberella smiled at the unusual - yet somehow completely normal - sight. Oh, Doc. She had her fingers crossed for him and Susan and this latest experiment.

Link smirked. "You're crazy, Doc! When was the last time one of your inventions worked!"

Dr C rolled his eyes, his large gold pupils almost comical as they rotated. Didn't exactly help his 'crazy' image... "Link, you _could_ help me out here!"

Zomberella was about to rush over and help, but she could see something else. Susan's door opened, and the giantess herself ducked beneath the metallic panel once it was half-open. She spotted Dr C carrying all of his inventions and piles of jumble and smiled, her blue eyes bright with something compassionate. She crouched down and tapped him on the shoulder, pushing him forward slightly with her accidental strength.

"Sorry!" she said, retracting her finger. Dr C turned around, confused at first but then recognizing her bright white smile. "Need a hand with that?" she asked.

Dr C smiled and shifted the boxes in his arms. "Thankyou, Susan!" He handed them over and left them in her palm, letting out a sigh of relief as he stretched out his arms. "Must admit, I'm not the strongest in the world..." he said with a chuckle.

"Where do you want them?"

"Oh, just over there would be splendid!"

Zomberella's shoulders sagged. Her whole frame collapsed as she let out a sigh. She saw green at once, but her mind fell blue. Jealousy hidden with sadness, and sadness hidden by a mask of calm and norm. She walked over before Link could say anything else to her, running up at full-sprint beside Dr C and calmly pacing by his side. "Hey there!"

He turned around, his smile eager. "Ah, Wendy! How are you?"

"Good!" she replied. "Yeah... good."

... aw-kwaaarrdd...

"Hey, Susan!" yelled up Zomberella. "Ready for some shock-therapy?"

Susan turned from where she was, crouched down to put back the collection of muddled inventions just a few hundred feet from where the giant silver stool (at least the size of an apartment building) sat. She smiled down at her green little friend, a nervous grin but an excited one as well. "Not when you say it like _that! _Doctor, do you want me to sit over there?"

"Thank you!" Immediately, Susan walked over to her silver chair and sat there in her patience. Legs crossed and hands folded in her lap, she waved a greeting to Insectosaurus. The dinosaur-sized bug roared a sweet reply, blinking his massive gold eyes with a buck-toothed smile as he wiggled a purple foot in response.

Zomberella found herself by Dr C's side once more, watching him blankly as he organized everything. "So... anything you need me to do?" she asked, swinging on her heels casually.

"Um... Just one minute..." he replied, putting down an upside-down bucket with a bike pedal beside a crate. On top of the crate, he carefully placed the pizza-computer and opened it up. Zomberella had to admit, there was something really cool about seeing a pixilated screen on the underside of a _pzza-lid._ It reminded her of those awesome 8-bit games they hade at the local arcade until some teenager burnt them down on a dare. But when he opened up the lid, she also found several plungers and other strange pieces piled up, all attached to wires and bubble-gum spit. "Here!" he said, picking one up and handing it over. "Just connect all of these to Susan, they should send electric signals through her body and into her DNA systems, thus re-writing her skeletal system and make her shrink!"

She smiled. "Sounds like a plan! Anywhere in particular or just scattered?"

He fished around for a minute in his pocket, pulling out a crumpled diagram on a piece of notepaper torn from his flip-book. "Just try to pin-point those locations," he said, but she was already sprinting away in a blur of green scars, the wires unraveling from the computer system like long, skeletal tails.

"Susan!" she called out as she ran, catching the giantess's attention. "Can you give me a boost?"

Susan smiled and bent down in her chair, reaching her hand out and carefully clutching Zomberella in her hand. Her fingers wrapped around her waist as she pulled her up gently and slowly to the curve of her neck, the zombie clutching tightly to her skin as she carried her up. Just because she was undead didn't mean she didn't want to crash to the floor in a million pieces. Susan dropped her off on her shoulder, a heavy lock of white hair barely missing Zomberella. Laughing, she sat down on the soft fabric of her shirt and let her legs dangle over her shoulder.

"So what do you have to do with all of the...?" Susan gestured to the collection of do-dads and thing-os that she had carried along with her.

The green figure unfolded the crap of paper, the basic outline of Susan's face dotted with the occasional bullet to mark where to put the plunger/pogo-stick/whatever. "Doctor C says that they've got to go on a few specific points so that they can reach your DNA and-"

"-electric signals that will re-write the genetic code and shrink me," finished Susan for her. "Don't worry, I know! Doc's explained everything over to me before..."

Zomberella smiled brightly, her legs ending their swing. The mental image of Dr C and Susan sitting together late at night and trying to figure out the pin-points of Susan's body and nervous system was sweet, hopeful and romantic all at once. It made her sick to her stomach. "Great! That's... really great!"

The two girls smiled, their attention turning to the mutated scientist below them. Dr C was happily singing something to himself as he unpacked all of the equipment and various junkyard treasures, creating something so marvelously weird that Zomberella found herself smiling at the sight of him. He looked _really_ happy... Building this machine just to cure Susan was one of the sweetest things he could do for her, and a great start into winning her affections over. How many Dereks have ever done something to _that_ extent?

"Do you think it's going to work?" asked Susan quietly. "I mean... I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this..."

The zombie smiled at how scared she sounded. How _human_. How sweet. She was about to answer when something occurred to her. '_Wait. Perfect moment to lead her into better and more awesome relationship_,' she thought to herself. '_C'mon, Zomberella! Play the Cupid card!_' Now if only she could think up something that wasn't obvious, but would be able to lead her onto how cool Dr C _really_ was.

This was going to hurt her.

"Wendy?"

She gulped. "It's going to be fine, Suzie... Doctor C's got a PhD, you know! I'm sure that he's more than capable of helping you!" she said, every amazing line coming out of nowhere for her. She even had to pause and wonder if she really _did_ just spew all that gushy crap out of her mouth or if she had been memorizing it secretly. "Not to mention that he understands what you're like and who you are, so he'll make sure that you're completely safe the whole time!"

Susan smiled. But it wasn't any smile that her friend had seen before. It was a kind of sly, 'I know something you don't know' smile. "Is that right...?"

Zomberella stared at her. That sly crease in her cheek. Her pink lips formed into a perfect hiding-spot for scandal... What was she hiding from her? What did she know? The last time she saw a smile like that was back in NANP. Some girl was making a sly remark at how this certain creep would constantly follow around Wendy when she was working. Wendy had laughed it off sarcastically, flipped the girl the bird and then walked off to fill out some pamphlets about an up-coming excursion.

Zomberella hadn't seen that smile in eight years. She forgot how it still secretly hurt and made her face flustered.

Why was _Susan _smiling like that?

She shook it off and continued, firmly pressing a plastic yellow cone to her cheek, the extending wire waving slightly at the sudden movement. "Does that hurt?"

Susan shrugged, just enough to get the message across, but not enough to knock he off entirely. "Not at all."

"Yay," she said causally, carefully placing her feet on Susan's collar and crawling down her neck, sitting just underneath her chin and balancing on the collar of her shirt. The giantess laughed at the tickle of her hair barely tracing her neck, her smile bright as she leaned up and over her chin, swinging her arm out and sticking a plunger onto her chin. "Sorry if they stick a bit. You're probably gonna be stuck with these rings all over your face for a couple of hours or so, but..." she said, continuing her crawl around her neck and onto her shoulder, taking a minute for a breather. "It's gonna be worth it."

The BFG (that's Big Friendly Giant for those who don't know the master of children's imaginations) smiled down at the little zombie running over her shoulders. "Do you _really_ believe this will shrink me?"

"Trust me on this one, Susan, Doc's a pretty stable guy. You'll be small in no time at all!" said Zomberella, sticking a salad-strainer onto her cheek like a suction-cup, twisting it into her cheek so that it stayed. "Sorry!" she quickly apologized as the giantess flinched as one would to a fly. "Susan, I know that you hate being so... 'Ginormica'... but I'll tell you the truth, I'm going to miss you when you get small..."

Susan smiled, laughing at her friend's serious tone. "I won't forget you when I'm gone, Wendy... You're an amazing friend, and I don't know what I would be doing now if it weren't for you! I promise, when I shrink I'll tell my family all about you guys. And Derek! Oh, he's going to love hearing about you guys!"

Her green smile fell short at the thought. "Oh yeah, Derek!" she said, as much optimism as she could manage. She had to admit, the more she heard of the guy the less she liked him. All Susan ever talked about was how he was so good at his job. News anchor this, Frezno that. It never ended. No matter how many times she had asked, Susan could only list three or five romantic evenings with him. Two romantic gestures. Other than that, he sounded like… Well, a bit of a sleaze.

But, as the best friend to Susan, she didn't say a word until she dumped the jerk and went for Dr C. Only _then_ would she be there to thrill in the fact of how crappy her ex was. It was the Code of the Basics of Female Friendships… or something like that.

"Anyway, can I grab a hug before you shrink and leave us forever?" asked Zomberella.

Susan laughed, her shoulders shaking and nearly knocking her green friend off. "Aw... Okay, come here..." she said, nudging her shoulder slightly to push her closer to her cheek.

Smiling, she rested the side of her face against Susan's freckled cheek, stretching her arms out in the widest embrace and holding herself close to her friend. It had been fun knowing Susan. Even if it was a short time together, being with Susan was a memorable three weeks. She was really going to miss her... and she hoped that Susan would learn to miss Dr C. Remember how sweet he was to her, dump plain old Derek, and track down the missing thing from her life. Then she and the Doc would get married and live their beautiful life together.

Perfect and beautiful.

Susan smiled and reached her hand out to Zomberella, like a platform made of delicate fingers. She let go of her friend's cheek and walked over, making herself comfortable in the seat of her palm. Susan didn't even shake anymore when she was holding Zomberella, and she smoothly moved her down towards the grey metal floor. She jumped off, landing on her feet from the four-foot jump and turned with a smile.

Giving a small salute for a farewell, and receiving one back from Susan, she walked over to Dr C's side calmly and quietly, watching him push buttons and turn knobs. His back to her, she hesitated in talking to him. She didn't want to disturb his work _or _his focus on Susan. But she couldn't contain her excitement at the sight of blinking light, rainbow pixels and flashing colours. It just looked so _cool! _Digital pizza-boxes for crying out loud! How can she _not _ask?

"Is everything working smoothly?" she asked him at last in her most casual voice.

If it were possible for someone to trip without moving, Dr C would have been the first to accomplish it. Startled, he jumped in his place as he found himself distracted form his work by her wide, white eyes. "U-Um, yes! E-Everything seems to be working just fine!" he managed to stammer.

She smiled quickly but showed no soul (pun not intended.) Link wasn't the only person around here who had a liar's smile. The past few days were a little awkward since Zomberella ran away crying from Dr C. Every move he seemed to make now was a bit more hesitant, even though the zombie insisted that she was fine.

_'I'm just really happy for you, that's all!'_

Liar. And she had the smile to prove it.

"So… did you need any help?" she asked him.

He quickly scanned over the keys of the pizza box/computer, checking that each scrap of junk was in its proper place for performance. "Um… There is… _one _thing… We need something to fire-up the electricity with enough power to shock Susan's DNA into normalization and reach her to the appropriate and requested height. Now that's going to be a _lot _more than the average nuclear weapon, so it's going to have to be-"

Zomberella stopped him. "Woah, woah, wait. English please. It's been a long morning."

Ducking his head slightly in embarrassment as he chuckled nervously at his own antics. "We… We just need something to increase the electrical conductivity. That should be enough to boost it. But I don't know how we're going to find something like tha-"

"GUYS! We're trying to play a card game here!" yelled Link from across the room. His webbed fingertips reached out for the dial on his retro silver radio, getting nothing but static and white noise until finally there was music from some lost decade filling the air. "Geeze… I'm trying to concentrate…"

Insectosaurus leaned into the card game, his wide eyes staring from behind BOB who was silently ordering his cards. It was taking him a fair part of his brainpower to do so (or whatever power helped him to put number and shapes in correct order), thus distracting him from the giant moth behind him.

Zomberella rolled her eyes. Cheating as usual. Insectosaurus and Link were as thick as thieves when put together. Nothing could change that. She smiled at the sight, but pretended to be annoyed at their continuous picking on BOB. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, Link…" she mumbled to herself, folding her arms over her chest childishly. She turned to Dr C once more, smile bright. "So anyway, where are we going to get this electric-thinga-majig?"

Dr C watched from a distance as the two continued their card-game, his eyes slowly going wider and his pupils expanding like huge hazel-coloured plates. The little tin-coloured radio shone in the overhead fluorescent lights of the hall and in the scientist's eyes. The sounds and sights and noise of the room seemed to filter out, just leaving the doctor listening to the gravel-textured music comic from the little box.

He didn't even notice the thundering, deafening slam on the floor as Insectosaurus stomped his foot.

Link, still smiling, looked down at his cards with furious intensity and a mind set purely on winning this game at last. "Do you…"

STOMP. Zomberella jumped at the noise, nearly tripping over herself as she found herself two inches into the air from the impact.

"… have…"

STOMP. Dr C's eyes stared down the antennae of the little silver radio as they twitched at Insectosaurus's stomping. He didn't move in the slightest (other than his short jump in the air.)

"… any…"

STOMP.

Link grinned with a curved, sly brow as he looked up from his cards. "… threes?" he asked in an up-beat tone.

As BOB made his astonished response, slamming down his cards in shock and praising Link for his amazing new stroke of luck that the ape-fish brushed off modestly, the zombie girl groaned in exhaustion at the very sight of them. Eight years together and she had run out of patience to try and call out Link on his cheating. That would involve trying to explain it to BOB. So instead, she turned to the drop-jawed Dr C.

Zomberella stared at him in puzzlement. Just how long had he been staring like that? "Uh… Do-?"

Dr C was already on all fours and racing over to Link's table with BOB (who was being cheated out of his collection of three's) and disturbing their card game before Zomberella could even. Not hesitating for a moment, he plucked the long silver antennae from the radio and crawled back over before Link even had the chance to protest.

"HEY!"

Too late. The antennae were shoved into each insert of the rusty toaster before Zomberella could even blink. As his hands raced and pulled and tapped over the amateur keyboard, the pixellated image of Susan flashed onto the screen. His mouth was stretched into a grin of slim and shiny teeth as he whirred at the bike-bucket combination to the point where the pedal blurred in a circle. Hunched over with his eyes looking past Zomberella's Converse sneakers, he seemed to have this whole world of his own as the antennae sparked and rattled in the kitchen appliance. As did the antennae on his huge, heart-shaped skull.

"They called me _crazy…!" _he seemed to whisper in a mad moment of was still lost in that world of his. That world of dials and DNA and electrocution and all other kinds and forms of mad science. "But I'll show them… _I'll show them all! _MWAHAHAHA!"

Zomberella blinked. Well _that _came from nowhere. She hadn't heard a laugh just that kind of evil in a long, _long _time.

"Doctor…?"

All four monsters looked to the forgotten Susan, who was still strapped up with plungers and other ordinary household items attached to her doe-like features. She cringed away from the scientist, who was paused mid-laugh with his knuckles tight as he gripped onto nothing, bent backwards in the pose of his mad laughter.

"I'd prefer you didn't do your mad scientist laugh while I'm hooked up to this machine."

Dr C looked down at his shoes, a little embarrassed, and snapped back upright at once. Meanwhile, behind his back, Insectosaurus let out a long and mournful roar before the awkward silence could sink in.

Link translated it perfectly, looking up at his friend from his metallic chair and smirking slightly. "You're right, Insecto!" He jumped from his chair and proceeded to walk over to Susan, looking up at her with a concerned look and a laid-back posture. "You've been letting that _quack_ experiment on you for over a month-"

Dr C jumped up and, clearly offended, glared at Link. "I'm _not_ a quack! I'm a mad scientist!" he exclaimed. He looked over to his computer with a sorrowful expression, his eyes suddenly shiny and his lips in a slight pout. With a mumble, he continued. "There _is_ a difference…"

Before Zomberella could open her mouth to defend the cockroach, Susan leaned over in her chair and broke into the conversation once more. "Guys, what choice do I have? If he can make me normal (or even six-foot-eight!) I can get out of here. Get back to the life I'm _supposed _to have. I mean, I should be in-"

"Let me guess. Frezno?"

So Link was still anti-normal. That was clear, even after their many weeks together. Every time Susan began on one of her 'back in Montresso' or even one of her cute stories about her life with Derek, he would just turn his back and walk away to bench-press or shuffle cards. Zomberella could never quite understand it about Link. He wanted to go outside, yet he hated any story Susan told about what life was like out there now.

And it was easy to see that Susan felt put off whenever he blocked her out like that. "Well… Frezno's just a stepping-stone. Next stop: Milwaki! And then New York and then someday hopefully-"

Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know. _Paris." _Another block. Another shut-down. Before Susan could look too hurt, Zomberella jumped in to try and cover up the remark.

"You sure you want to go through with this, Susan?" she asked. "I mean… It's getting to the point of no return…"

Susan smile bravely, beginning to sit up. "If it means a life in Paris with the man of my dreams, then I'll go through it." The zombie had to admire her blind passion, though she couldn't help the secret nerves that were hiding in her stomach on behalf of her friend. Turning to Dr C, Susan nodded her head. "… throw the switch, Doctor… B-But don't do the laugh."

Dr C looked up to her, eyes narrowed and a serious look on his face. Thought it was impossible to deny that his eyes were still bright with excitement. "Now, you're going to feel a slight _pinch _in the brain… Mwaha- Sorry!"

Hands at the keys once more, Dr C began to punch in the numbers, code and combinations. The radio antennae sparked wildly, a cracked and shaking line of neon purple, raw electricity dancing frantically between the metal as the toaster shook. Everybody held their breath and watched as Susan's fingertips gripped the edge of her seat.

It was clear that it wasn't working as planned.

Her hair became a mess, sweeping and shooting out like it was being pulled from her skull in sharp tugs. Her brilliant blue pupils shrank down to the finest points as her body sparked and glowed. It looked as if she were going through a violent seizure during an x-ray scan. Zomberella could even see her skeleton flash through her skin as the power ran through her veins. Her face scrunched up as she tried to suppress the pain, it became too much for her to handle. With a gasp of pain and a sudden yelp as the final jolt was given in a blast of power, Susan fell backwards and off her chair.

As her body hit the floor with as much force as a falling skyscraper, the four standing monsters tried to remain standing. Looking to each other in total silence, they tried to remain hopeful as their eyes went wide with concern and fear. Dr C was the first to move, swallowing nothing in a loud gulp of terror as he looked over to Link with a smile.

"That went well!"

BOB, finally merging through the metal of the card table and joining the others, looked at the unconscious Susan as he gave her the same look as a confused dog would. "Hey, Susan! You fell over!"

There wasn't any reply from Susan. Her body was still twitching violently from the shock. Sparks of electricity still went through her skeleton and indigo bolts of lightning jolted through her fingertips and hair.

Link raised his eyebrows, wolf whistling at her unconscious form in amazement. Zomberella knotted her eyebrows, beginning to take a ginger step towards her friend and not daring any further. "Reckon she's okay?"

Insectosaurus let out a long, low and saddening roar. It was practically a mumble. Link turned and nodded. They were both seeing what Zomberella had noticed for a while now, but didn't want to say anything. Not in front of Dr C.

"Um… I don't think she's shrinking…"

Dr C bit his lip and, looking around nervously before quickly running over on two feet and nervously muttering beneath his breath. Running over to her revealed wrist, Dr C put his small hands to her skin and rested the side of his head on her thin blue veins. Pausing for a deathly silent moment, he turned around to see the gentle rise and fall of her chest. With a smile, Dr C faced his fellow monsters. "She's okay. Just stunned."

Ignoring her perfectly sculptured chest and how Dr C smiled when he looked upon it, Zomberella raced towards Susan and ended up by her cheek, where she pressed at it gently with both of her green-blue hands. "Susan? Susie? You okay?" There wasn't any articulate reply, though the zombie could swear that she heard a slight moan in the giant's throat.

BOB slid over with a slimy, gliding motion as Link ran past on both his feet _and _knuckles. Crowding around her face and leaning into her expression, the four monsters watched her closely. BOB stretch himself out so that his eye was hovering directly over the bridge of Susan's nose in the centre of her face. "Why is Susan still huge?"

Dr C was forced to admit it. "I guess… Something went wrong in the calculations."

Zomberella couldn't take it anymore. That look of bitter disappointment in himself and the sudden realisation of failure was beginning to show on his once catastrophically optimistic face was just becoming too much. "I'm sorry, Doc…"

"It's okay, Wendy!" His voice was positive and uptimistic He smiled half-heartedly, but didn't look back at her. He just leaned over Susan's chin and stared sadly at her half-shut blue eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Just as he said this, Susan's eyelids began to twitch. Her mouth parted open slightly, nearly pushing Dr C and the other monsters backward as her glassy, unfocused blue eyes were slowly revealed. Zomberella sighed with relief, smiling at her quick recovery, while Dr C leaned in closer to her and waved his hand in the air. "Susan? Yoo-hoo!"

Susan's vision snapped back into focus as she looked at her four friends. It wasn't that surprising when the first question that came out of her mouth was… "Am I small again?"

Dr C wasn't too hesitant in breaking the news. It would only concern her more if there were an awkward silence. With the previous tests, the only thing that he had learnt was how to break the news properly. "I'm afraid not, my dear."

The monsters jumped from her torso and onto the floor once more as Susan sat up with a sorrowful sigh. She was used to hearing bad news in the past month or so and had come used to hearing about more bad results each time, but it still hurt.

"In fact, you may have actually _grown _a couple of feet! Heh… h-heh…" Dr C's awkward laughter was not helping the situation in the slightest. Link had to give him points for trying, but not when Susan had such a downtrodden look on her otherwise innocent face.

The giant sighed, sitting up on her chair once more and ignoring her radical new hairstyle. Ash was still dusted on her features from the small explosion and her hair looked burnt in some places. "It's okay, Doc. We'll try again tomorrow."

Link had enough of this optimistic attitude. It was like living with a freaking Disney princess. So he decided to finally say what nobody else had the guts to. "You really don't get it, do you? No monster has _ever _gotten outta here!"

Zomberella, being the sympathetic kind and closest friend to Susan, glared at Link. He wasn't the only person getting sick of the attitudes of others. As good a friend as Link was, his constant pessimism was breaking her patience. "Way to burst our happy bubble of ignorance, _Link."_

Link glared back. Ever since Susan had walked in, Zomberella had stopped hanging out with the guys as much as she used to. Not to mention she was constantly depressed for obvious reasons nobody wanted to admit. "Well it's true, isn't it? There's no point trying to kid ourselves any longer! Nobody has _ever, _and I mean _**ever **_gotten outta this place!"

Zomberella's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms over her chest. As she opened her mouth, the always optimistic BOB stepped in with his own argument."That's not true! The Invisible Man did!"

Link sighed, turning to the blue carbonate with a look of complete exhaustion in his eyes."No he didn't!"

Dr C and Zomberella froze completely, staring at Link in shock. Hazel and white locked onto Link as their jaws dropped in unison. He really had the heart to- No. To break this really meant he _had _lost his heart.

Link's expression saddened. "We just told you that so you wouldn't get upset."

BOB looked over to Zomberella, who looked like she was about to hit Link and burst into tears all at the same time. She bit her lip and hung her head sadly. "We were going to tell you when we thought you were ready…"

With that note, the scientist knew that he was the one to break the news. Dr C swallowed and reach out a hand to BOB, trying to make some kind of physical contact to lessen the blow."He… died of a heart-attack… Twenty-five years ago-"

BOB's pupil shrank in his head. His flexible jaw dropped to the floor and he swatted Dr C's hand aside with a gob of ham-scented blue. _**"NOOO!" **_he screamed, almost in agony. Zomberella winced at the noise, her arms tying to clutch at herself tightly but still feeling weak.

Link's smile was missing entirely. "Yeah. In that very chair…"

All six monsters looked over to the empty silver chair that was seated in the corner in complete isolation.

"He's still there."

As BOB whimpered like a lion with a thorn in its paw, Zomberella suddenly stood upright, suddenly realising that a human corpse had been sitting there for what? Forty years? How many times had she sat in that chair? She glared at Link. "I've been sitting on a dead body this entire time?"

He looked her up and down, staring into her hollow white eyes in that mouldy, scarred skull. "Does that really matter to you? _Zomberella_?"

She scrunched up her mouth and narrowed her eyebrows, refusing to admit that it was a good point. "Touché, jerk."

Susan, the only one out of this private conversation, could still see how much this was effecting them all. The thought of one friend being able to escape must have been BOB's point of sanity. The mental image of him dying in prison was heart-breaking and disturbing. It would be like thinking that Derek had run off and started seeing somebody else during her month in prison.

He blue eyes began to leak up at the very thought.

Link saw and, with bitter success, turned to Susan with a deepened frown. "You see what I'm sayin'?"

Zomberella swallowed and, clutching onto her elbows, looked away from Link's back and to the floor. He was right. And it hurt. The thought was already a wound in her skin, but the constant reminder was just salt.

"Nobody's leaving."

Dr C ignored the sound of a car pulling up behind him and looked over to BOB, who was about to start an uncontrollable sobbing fit. He tried reaching out again, but the blue mass turned away. Rejecting him completely. He looked up to Susan instead, who had her head ducked away in shame as she locked her legs together protectively. No amount of optimism would help out the situation.

"Nobody' getting out."

The sound of the engine was slowly increasing in all of their ears. General Monger was beginning to stand up in his jeep, leaning over the side of the classic army vehicle and looking at his prisoners. Not seeing the obvious cloud above their heads and the tears in their eyes, he grinned and let his voice holler out the best news they would hear in all their lives.

"Good news, monsters! You're getting out!"

Link's pupils shrank.

"… until today."

Susan sat up straight, her eyes foggy with tears. Dr C turned around, hand still poised and ready to be placed in an attempt to comfort the crying BOB. Zomberella looked up form her shoes, staring at Monger in confusion as she held herself strong.

This had to be a joke.

Susan swallowed. "Are… Are you serious?"

Monger looked at them all. "Oh come _on, _ladies! A little bit of enthusiasm would be nice!"

Link glared at him, beginning to walk away and to the open door of his cell. "Very funny, Monger."

Monger glared at the escaping fish-ape and kicked the car horn. It's obnoxious honking rang out through all corners of the barren rec hall. As the monsters began to cover their ears and roar on the top of their lungs, the ceiling opened up to reveal Insectosaurus's favourite set of bright lights. They gleamed like sunshine and made his gold pupils dilate as he stared at in awe, ending his roar once and for all.

Monger took his foot off the horn and called out to Link once more. "Get in the car, tuna-head! That goes for the rest of you!"

BOB's grin was slowly coming back. And by 'slowly', I mean that it appeared as quickly as the switch for a light bulb. "Joyride! I'm in!"

Dr C's jaw didn't seem to fix itself. "You're serious."

Susan's jaw nearly hit the flaw. The tears began to flow freely as those brilliantly white teeth came into view. "I can go home?" she squealed loudly.

"Sure thing, Ginormica!" Monger began to rev up the engine once more. "But first you've got to do a little favour for the U.S. of A! I'll explain it all on the ride in more detail, but that's the basics."

Susan got up from her chair and began to walk over, rubbing away her tears and towering above the other two monsters that were left behind. The walls began to split open further to reveal a vast, long white hallways with a moving platform. Scientists and officials looked over from balconies and began to line up the platform ready for movement.

Zomberella felt at her chest. Completely silent and her mouth caught open in total shock, she gripped at the material of her shirt and shut her eyes tight.

For a minute there, she could've sworn her heart had beaten.

Her whole body screamed at different points. For the first time in eight years, she had the opportunity to go back and see her parents. That wasn't as good as it sounded. She was terrified with the thought of meeting those faces after years of living in hiding in her ugly new form. Though she knew that she was expected to go and see them, she was still afraid of seeing them.

And what was it that Monger was talking about? This 'little favour' for the government? What exactly was going on?

But at the same time:

Sunshine.

Macaroni and cheese.

Cheap movies and late nights.

A whole world to explore in a government helicopt- No, let's not get too excited.

… Oh screw it, _government helicopter ride across the world!_

Her eyes still clamped shut, she broke out into a grin as she laughed as hard as she could. Dr C watched her as she lost all the air in her lungs, nearly screaming with laughter as she felt her skin prickle with this sudden warmth and her whole body aching and itching at the same time. She jumped up and down on the spot, kicking her legs wildly and suddenly breaking out into a full sprint as she tore past them all and to Monger's side.

"Get me outta here, soldier-boy!" she yelled in ecstasy, pushing past Susan in order to reach the car. Susan simply laughed as her friend flashed beneath her in a blur of green, reaching the car before her giant paces ever could. As the zombie jumped up and landed in the back of the car, it nearly bowled over at the impact. General Monger laughed with her before turning to the other monsters, cupping his hands around his mouth so they could hear him above the sound of machinery and mechanics.

"You comin' or what?"

Dr C stared after Zomberella, who was pushing Monger aside and slamming her hand on the horn of the car. "GUYS, GET IN THE FREAKING CAR!" she screamed out before squealing in her most girly, happiest voice.

Dr C laughed, covering up his mouth with his hand as he blinked back tears. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, he felt his shoulders sag like the largest weight had been taken from his shoulders. His throat vibrated as he tried to control his voice form letting out a sob. As the two girls chased after Monger, he felt his whole spirit feel lighter than air as he straightened out his posture.

Link turned to him. "Reckon we should go on his word?"

Dr C looked back to Link, smiling at him with the calmest expression on his face as he removed his hand. He choked on nothing as he blinked back a tear. With his most sincere, confident voice, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Bugger it."

He ran after the zombie and the general, waving his arm in the air. "Wait up, General!" he said, running as fast as his legs could take him.

BOB began to race past them, laughing mischievously and just about ready to bowl Monger over like a pin. "Come on, Link! Last one there is an ugly fish!" he called out to the muscle of the gang. He spend along quicker, nearly catching up to Susan and Dr C as they neared the jeep.

Link stood there, jaw dropped and completely astonished. He looked over to Insectosaurus, who was already being led away by the bright yellow lights. He didn't even turn around to give a second thought. He simply let out a roar of encouragement to Link before disappearing altogether, being led away by the helicopter and government officials as the door closed up behind him.

Link swallowed and, with his classic grin back, chased after his friends. "Freedom, here we come!"

Monger looked to the lot of them and grinned. He looked really, _really _happy. Genuinely happy. And not just because he had persuaded the President into believing his idea, but because that the people he had come to know and work with for fifty years were finally going to taste the air. Feel the sunlight. Embrace the world outside of their little grey cells.

"And all you've got to do is fight an alien robot!"

The nearing Susan, the green Zomberella, and the cockroach hybrid looked at Monger with a puzzled expression. Dr C was leaning over the side of the car and nearly out of breath. Susan was up so high in the clouds that she had barely processed it. Zomberella assumed it was a bad joke, making her smile fall.

Monger paused. "Uh… I guess there's a lot to be explained."

* * *

**CrazyA**: I MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH! DX

I wanted to get back into writing this story, but this chapter was a real struggle to get through. I knew what I wanted to type, but it just didn't seem to be flowing properly. I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please, don't expect me to write up the next one ASAP. These things take time and I don't know how much longer this writing passion will last for. But I just want to let you know that you guys are some of my most loyal readers yet. I love you all very much and your reviews are some of the most heart-warming I have ever read.

Please, don't give up on this story. The minute you guys give up is the minute I do. I love you so, SO much. Please, read and review. x


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